A New Kind of Ashikabi
by The 19th Angel
Summary: Tetsuya is by most accounts, an ordinary boy. He lives with his uncle Seo Kaoru. Until he meets and wings the Sekirei known as Uzume. He soon finds himself embroiled in a contest, the likes of which he could never have imagined. Now he must fight to keep Uzume, Akitsu and any other Sekirei he wings with him. OCxHarem. Slight AU at the beginning.
1. The Sekirei Plan

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note

Alrighty to any of my reader's who've read The Space Between-Eva Saga. I will continue to write that story, but I have decided to take a small break while I get my newest chapter beta-read . This story will follow the life of my OC Tetsuya as he becomes entwined in the Sekirei plan. He will discover the magnificent creatures known as Sekirei and the truth about his parentage. I will mess with a few pairings but hopefully, some of the larger ones I mess with will not negatively impact the story too much. I will also mess with some ages to make the story fit seeing as how the entire time table is messed up. Please read and review. Also let me know of any ideas you have I'd love to hear any that you guys have. Also, I should note that Tetsuya is no ordinary Ashikabi, he is a member of a new generation of Ashikabi, whose abilities are less diluted than Minato's generation. This story will provide more focus and elaboration on the powers of the Ashikabi, other than to wing Sekirei. It starts about two weeks before Minato meets Musubi.

Chapter 1- Sekirei Plan, A New Game From MBI

_19 years ago,_

_ It was 2:00 in the morning when a young Seo Kaoru was roused from his sleep by a pounding on his door. He opened the door to see his friend Takehito Asama standing on his doorstep holding a bundle of blankets._

"_Takehito what are you doing-" he began_

"_No time Seo, my time is short, but I need a favor of you. I need you to take this child, his name is Tetsuya, raise him as your own." he said gesturing to the bundle in his arms_

"_What? Are you kidding Takehito? I can't handle a kid now, I can barely fend for myself." he said incredulously_

"_Seo, my friend, please. If MBI finds out about this child they will try to involve him in the S Plan. I can't let him become involved in Minaka's twisted machinations. You're the only one I can trust with this. I can't leave him with Miya MBI will find out if I leave him with her. Please Seo, I don't have much time." Takehito said in a pleading tone. Seo could tell this was important to Takehito, so grudgingly he said,_

"_Fine, I'll do it." he said, taking the bundle of blankets that held the baby from Takehito. _

"_So what's so special about this little guy?" asked Seo as he looked up, only to see that Takehito was nowhere in sight._

_Present Day_

Tetsuya Kaoru was roused from his sleep by his uncle Seo nudging him with his foot.

"What do you want?" he asked groggily, as he rolled over to look up at his uncle and caretaker, Seo Kaoru, dressed in his usual outfit of a white undershirt and blue jeans.

"Hey, Tetsuya I have go out of town on business for a week so I just wanted to wake you for prep school and say goodbye." he said looking at the naked, save for a pair of boxer shorts, 19 year old boy sleeping on the futon below him. Him and the boy shared a two bedroom apartment, with two bathrooms. The apartment was painted a light yellow color with sparse decoration.

"Goodbye, now let me sleep for 3 more minutes." said Tetsuya as he rolled back over to go back to sleep.

"Come on, get up!" said Seo, firmly kicking Tetsuya in the side, resulting in a grunt from Tetsuya, who rolled back to look at his uncle.

"Come on, 3 more minutes man. That's all I'm asking!" Tetsuya said loudly at his uncle.

"No, get up now I have to go soon and I have to make sure you get to your classes today." said Seo, giving the youth on the floor in front of him another kick to the side.

"Ugh, fine! I HATE YOU, I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT!" shouted Tetsuya as he stood up and stomped over to his dresser to dress for the day.

"Yea, yea, I love you too, kiddo." said Seo, as he turned to leave to give his young charge some privacy.

Tetsuya smiled, no matter what he said, he loved his uncle. He had taken care of Tetsuya since his dad had dropped him off on his doorstep 19 years ago, with only the note that he would soon be unable to care for him. Tetsuya knew nothing of his parents, as his uncle refused to tell him anything due to some promise he had made to his father all those years ago. Tetsuya wanted more than anything to know his parents but knew his uncle well enough to knew pushing the issue was a lost cause. He had learned many years ago to love and appreciate his uncle, he knew there were others out there who had even less than that. He put on his favorite shirt, it was plain black cotton and was just tight enough on him to show off his impressive physique, next he put on a pair of grey jeans over a new pair of under wear. He had showered last night like he preferred to. He went over to his bathroom and combed his straight light purple, shoulder-length in back and neck length on the sides hair with his long bangs combed to the side, tying the back into a ponytail with a black ribbon that Seo said had belonged to his mother,. He liked his hair color, even if people made fun of him for it. His uncle had always said it looked like his mother's hair color, knowing full well it would launch Tetsuya into a whole new round of pressing him for details of his parents. He had grey eyes, like his father. He walked out, put his shoes on, and grabbed his denim jacket, helmet, and keys off the coat rack by the door. He exited the apartment, walking down the stairs to the parking lot of their apartment complex. He walked over to the black motorcycle that sat at the far end of the parking lot. It was a matte black 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, a gift from his uncle for his 16th birthday. He straddled the leather seat, put his helmet on and closed the visor. Put the keys in the ignition and kick-started the bike. He revved the engine a few times before hitting the throttle and took off to his prep class. He flew through the back streets of Shinto Teito city, until he arrived at the building his classes were in. he parked in the far edge of the parking lot and parked his bike as far way from the entrance as he could find and headed in to school. As he was passing through the parking lot he saw another one of the students in his class. It was Minato Sahashi, the boy was tall, with messy black hair and grey eyes a few shades darker than Tetsuya's. He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans.

"Hey Minato how's it going today?" called Tetsuya across the parking lot as her jogged over to Minato.

"Oh, hey, I'm good. How are you?" said Minato cheerfully.

"I'm good, thanks. You ready for the entrance exams this year?" asked Tetsuya casually.

"I hope so. How do you feel about your chances?" asked Minato as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand nervously.

"Well I hope they're good. If I don't pass this year my uncle's gonna 'kick my sorry ass out' as he puts it." Tetsuya said with a nervous laugh.

"Well best of luck to you then." said Minato

"The same to you ." said Tetsuya as they walked into class together and took their seats.

The day passed uneventfully, when class was out he walked out to his bike put his helmet on and headed home. He was his way home through one of the deserted back streets until a girl dropped out of the sky onto the street in front of him. His eyes widened in shock as he swerved to avoid her. As he turned though, the bike slid out from underneath him and he hit the ground and rolled into the side of a building while his bike slid out into the center of the street.

He lay there for what seemed like a long while, until his eyes opened to see the girl he had narrowly avoided hitting, leaning over his body looking down at him. Her lips were moving but his ears didn't seem to be working. She was a well endowed young woman with long, dark brown hair, brown eyes and a well developed body figure. She was wearing a belly top that was pink on the chest and violet on the sleeves with a star on the center along with Capri jeans. His hearing also seemed to be slowly returning to him.

"..so sorry...you okay?"

"Hello, can you hear me? Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

He blinked and then realized she was speaking to him, he opened his helmet's visor.

"I, I, don't know. Are you okay though?" he said as he reclaimed his faculties.

"Yea, I'm fine I didn't just have a motorcycle accident. But thanks for asking. I'm Uzume by the way" she said.

"I'm Tetsuya. It's nice to meet you Uzume." he said, sitting up his back was sore but he didn't think he wad too badly injured, he was just glad he hadn't been speeding.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. He looked at her and for the first time, he really noticed how beautiful this girl was. Her hair was long and shiny, she obviously took very good care of it. And the size of her bust made it very hard to maintain eye contact. Though somehow, he managed to pull it off.

"Yea, I'm fine just a few bruises, doesn't feel like anything is broken. I just hope my bike is okay."

he said as he got up. His body was sore all over, but he'd be okay, this wasn't his first accident.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Uzume asked as she stood up. Just then an idea occurred to Tetsuya. He turned to face the girl.

"Well, if you must know, I'd love to take you out to lunch sometime." he said with a grin. Uzume blushed and looked down at the ground.

"Alrighty, I'm busy doing somethings with my roommate the next couple of days, how about we meet somewhere a few days from now?" she asked looking back up at him.

"Okay, I take the entrance exams tomorrow how bout in 4 days, we meet back here on this street. At noon." he said happily.

"Alrighty, here's my number. Call me sometime." she said with a wink as she scribbled down her number on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Will do." he said happily as he took the piece of paper. He was so happy that he didn't even bother to question how she leaped up to the top of the building next to the street. He went over to his motorcycle, noting that it was scratched pretty bad, but nothing he couldn't fix. He righted his motorcycle and kick-started it again and took off towards his uncle's apartment. He arrived back at home shortly. He walked up to his uncle's apartment. He walked back up the stairs and opened the door. He slowly walked into the bathroom. Her removed his clothing and examined the damage in the mirror. His coat would need to be replaced. But it was worth it, he had a date with a beautiful girl in a couple of days. He looked at his body I the mirror he was bruised up pretty bad on his back and left side. He turned on the water and let it begin to fill the tub he went out to the fridge and grabbed one of the countless health and protein shakes in the fridge, his uncle enjoyed beer and even let Tetsuya drink it, but he didn't care for beer. He unscrewed the cap off the protein shakes and chugged it as fast as he could. He repeated this 3 times each time drinking the shake as fast as he could, he would need all the vitamins he could get his hands on so he could heal as fast as he could. He threw away the empty bottles in the trash and walked back into the bathroom and turned off the water when it was high enough. He lowered his body into the water. He gritted his teeth against the pain of his bruises and assorted scrapes hitting the hot water. once he was fully in the water. He rested in the water for a while, enjoying the feel of the water on his skin,, closed his eyes and eventually dozed off in the water. He woke up a while later in the now ice cold water. He pulled the plug in the tub and got out unsteadily, his legs were weak from cold. He checked the time on the clock on the counter. It read 21:00.

"Ah,crap I forgot to study!" he exclaimed. But it didn't matter, he knew that if he'd tried to study his mind would've been on Uzume, that beautiful girl he'd met earlier. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off . Then he headed to his bedroom. He put on a new pair of underwear and a pair of sweatpants. He laid down on the futon and pulled the covers up to his chin. He put his head down on the pillow and went to sleep.

He woke the next day, dressed, and headed to Shinto Teito university to take the entrance exam that day. He arrived and took the entrance exam it lasted four hours, at the end he handed it in, hoping to Buddha that he passed this time, so he wouldn't have to move out. He headed out after the test and drove around for a few hours, hoping to run into Uzume again, after 3 hours with no success, he decided to head home. He arrived home mead himself a TV dinner, ate and headed to bed. He spent the next few days enjoying his few weeks of freedom until the results were posted. He spent the first day shopping for a new jacket, he found a used plain brown leather one that was selling for cheap. He paid for it with the money he had made from his job last summer, though it was slowly running out. The next day he headed to the gym and spent the day working out, he wanted to look good for his date after all.

It wasn't until the next day that Tetsuya would see Uzume again..He had ordered a pizza that afternoon for lunch before deciding to head to the botanical gardens that day. He was driving to the botanical gardens when Uzume landed on the street and jumped on to a building on the opposite side of the street, followed closely by a blonde wearing a black and yellow dress holding a whip. The whip girl appeared to be chasing Uzume. Tetsuya gunned the engine and cut through an alley to follow them. He swerved through the back streets desperately trying to keep up with the girls. He opened the visor on his helmet and shouted,

"Uzume, down here!" he saw her look down and a look of recognition flashed across her face.

"What are you doing here?" she called down to him as he turned onto a main street to follow them.

"I could ask you the same thing but it seems you need some help. If I pulled up along side you could you jump on to the back of my seat?" he yelled, swerving to avoid a car.

"Yeah, but you gotta be quick!" she said as she looked back at the woman chasing her.

"Can do!" he shouted up at her. He gunned the throttle and pulled along side the building she was on, keeping pace with her.

"Jump now!" he called up at her. He looked up and saw her jump off towards him and lost sight of her for a few second till he felt her land on the seat behind him with a thump. He opened the dash compartment in front of him and pulled out his spare helmet and handed it back to her.

"Thanks." she said over the sound of the engine as she fastened the helmet on her head and reached forward and wrapped her arms around his torso to avoid being thrown off.

"Hold on!" he said as he prepared to pull a maneuver.

"For what? Aaaaaiee!" she said her voice turning to a scream as he leaned sharply and pulled a U-turn and started to head back to his apartment. He turned to see the blonde woman start to follow him. He turned down a side street and started to take the most convoluted route home he could think of. He swerved around a corner, narrowly avoiding a trash can in his way he swerved through back streets for almost 45 minutes until they reached his apartment. He parked his bike and deployed the kick stand and swiftly dismounted the bike.

"Come on, follow me." he said, grabbing Uzume's hand as she was getting off the bike and leading her up the stairs to the apartment his uncle and he shared. He opened the door and pulled Uzume with him through the portal and slammed it behind him and checked through the peephole to see if they had been followed. Sure enough, a few seconds later the blond girl entered the parking lot and started looking around for them. He looked back to see Uzume, looking slightly flushed behind him.

"Who was that?" he asked as he locked the door behind and making sure he had his keys on him. He did.

"It's kinda complicated." she replied as she removed the helmet she had on and shook her hair out.

Uzume

Why did she feel this way? Why did her body feel so hot inside? Who was this boy she had met a few days ago on a shopping errand from Miya? In the three days since she had met him he had asked her out and saved her from being taken back to that horrible girl's Ashikabi and being forcibly winged. This boy knew next to nothing about her, and yet had risked his life, whether he knew it or not, to save her. He had shown such kindness to an almost complete stranger. Was it possible that she was reacting to this boy? She could think of people much worse than this simple boy to react to.

"Oh okay. Well, she's still out there looking for you, so it looks like we're stuck here for now." he said.

There was silence for a while until a loud gurgling sound resounded through the room.

Uzume blushed and looked away from Tetsuya.

"Sorry, I haven't eaten yet today." she said, embarrassed.

"Ah, I get it. Why don't you have a seat on the couch." he said quickly as he headed to the small kitchen, grabbed a few slices of the pepperoni and sausage pizza from earlier and placed them on a plate and put them in the microwave for a minute. After the minute was up, the microwave beeped, and he took the plate back out to her. She had walked over and sat down at the edge of the plush yellow couch next to the side table next to the couch while Tetsuya had been in the kitchen. She sat there quietly trying to fight the urge to go over and kiss the boy.

"Sorry 'bout the food it's all we have right now." he said setting the plate on the table next to her.

"We?" she asked quizzically as she took a bite of one of the slices of pizza.

"My uncle and I share this apartment, though if I don't pass the entrance exam this year he's gonna kick me out."

"Oh I hope you pass then." she said, trying to sound supportive with a smile. She hoped that he didn;t notice her staring at his lips. She was trying as hard as she could not to kiss him. Even though her body felt like it was on fire inside. But she couldn't help but lean in closer, she longed to, no she needed to, kiss him. Every cell in her body screamed at her to kiss this boy full on the mouth.

"Yea, me too I really don't want to have to- mph!" he never got to finish his sentence because when he had turned to look at Uzume mid-sentence, she had suddenly leaned forward and thrown her arms around his neck and passionatley kissed him full on the mouth. Tetsuya on reflex wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap and started to kiss her back.(AN: Yes my readers, he's kissed a girl before.) He kissed her back for about half a second before he noticed something strange. Uzume's back was glowing, Tetsuya watched on in awe as wings that appeared to be made of light that looked like like cloth sprouted out of he back right between her shoulder blades at the base of her neck. Tetsuya pulled his lips away from Uzume.

"Whoa, what was that?" Tetsuya asked with an astonished look.

"You just caused me to emerge. I'm your Sekirei now, and you my Ashikabi. I'm Sekirei #10 Uzume, the Veiled Sekirei." Uzume said warmly, as she rested her hands on his chest and looked deep into her new Ashikabi's eyes. She noted that they were the same color as steel and seemed to contain a will that was twice as strong.


	2. Tetsuya's First Day As An Ashikabi

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Authors Note: Thanks for the positive reviews and Ideas. I would like to request that ShadowUzumaki39 and ScorpinokXV create accounts on fanfiction so I can PM you guys.

**Spoiler Alert! **

Yes Tetsuya is Miya's and Takehito's son, though Miya has no idea where he is as of yet, or who he lives with.

**Spoilers over.** I will most likely mess with Minato's flock. Seo is not the Twins' Ashikabi in this story as Takehito wanted to keep Tetsuya out of the S Plan, and an Ashikabi caretaker would make that much harder. Also everybody, just because Uzume is Tetsuya's first Sekirei doesn't mean she will be his favorite or the one he loves most. I don't know who he will love most yet, much less who he will fall in love with, but the bottom line is that anything could happen. I will regularly post polls on my profile that may impact the story, though I reserve the right to say "screw it" and do my own thing. Also, anyone interested in beta reading chapters should pm me.

Chapter 2: Tetsuya's First Day As An Ashikabi

Tetsuya sat there, silent, for a while. He was trying to wrap his head around what Uzume had just said. What was a Sekirei? What was an Ashikabi? Emerged? He understood many of the words she said, but not the context in which she had used them. He sat there, pondering her last sentence until...

"What?" he asked, befuddled.

"Allow me to explain!" said a voice from behind Uzume. Tetsuya leaned to the left, to look around the girl straddling his lap. He looked across the room to see that the television was on showing a picture of the CEO of MBI, Hiroto Minaka, resplendently dressed in white and sitting in a large chair. He grabbed Uzume by the waist and with relatively little effort, picked her up and and set her back down on the couch next to him. He got up from the couch and crossed the room and reached toward the TV to turn it off when,

"Don't touch that button, boy!" exclaimed the Minaka on the screen.

"Whoa! How did you do that?" Tetsuya said as he recoiled away from the button on the TV in shock.

"It's not important. What is important is-" Minaka began.

"Actually it is, what you're doing is either impossible, given the lack of a video input signal on our end. Or highly illegal, if you've got a secret camera in the TV." said Tetsuya, interrupting the professor.

"Never mind that." Minaka began again.

"Am I in a coma? That's it isn't it. I crashed my motorcycle and now I'm in a coma." said Tetsuya, cutting the professor off again.

"You're not in a coma." said the professor.

"See that's exactly what my subconscious would say if I was in a coma." said Tetsuya quickly as he gestured toward the TV.

This was obviously going nowhere, Uzume thought. So to shorten the discussion time, she grabbed Tetsuya's face and kissed him passionately on the mouth again.

"Does that feel like a coma?" she asked Tetsuya, still holding his face in her hands.

"I should hope not." said Tetsuya sounding dazed.

"As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, TWICE! You are now a player in the Sekirei plan, a game where you and your Sekirei must fight to be the last ones standing to win a fantastic prize. You're an Ashikabi, one who possesses the ability to empower Sekirei through the exchange of saliva, namely a kiss. You are limited only by the number of Sekirei you can obtain." the professor said in the same manner a con man at the carnival invited passersby to try a game of chance.

"What's the prize?" asked Tetsuya suspiciously.

"You'll have to play to see. Oh, and the Sekirei Plan is classified, so if you tell anyone outside the game we will have to_** take care of you. **_Goodbye, have fun now, and take care #10." said Minaka menacingly.

"Sounds fair." said Tetsuya with a shrug as the TV turned off. Suddenly, there was knock at the door behind Tetsuya. He turned and walked over to the door and looked through the peephole to see a large nondescript man in a suit holding a box. Tetsuya opened the door saying,

"Now who could I have told in the time it took me to walk to the door?" he said exasperatedly.

The man didn't answer, he simply shoved the box he was carrying into Tetsuya's arms and turned and left. Tetsuya walked back over to the couch where Uzume sat quietly eating. He set the box on the coffee table in front of the couch and opened it revealing what appeared to be an outfit made of white cloth.

"What's this?" he said lifting up the fabric and showing it to Uzume.

"Oh! That's mine." she said excitedly as she took the outfit from Tetsuya and scurried off to the bathroom. Tetsuya shrugged and resumed looking through the box. It contained an MBI credit card that a slip of paper said had no limit. _Coolness, _thought Tetsuya as he put the card in his wallet.

"Hey, you like?" he heard Uzume ask him from behind him. He turned to look at her and saw she was wearing an outfit of white silk. It covered only her breasts, groin, hips, and extremities. The rest trailed behind her in a long white veil that surrounded her body. Tetsuya held his hand up to his nose in an attempt to preempt any ensuing nosebleeds this sight caused him to have. When he failed to bleed, he took his hand away.

"Isn't that a tad revealing?" he asked her with raised eyebrows.

"Awww, don't you like it?" she asked as she walked around to his front and bent over and looked at him with, what was quite possibly, the most beautiful set of puppy-dog eyes Tetsuya had seen to date.

"I didn't say I disliked it." he said calmly, as he struggled to maintain eye contact with her, he could tell he was blushing furiously. Normally things like this didn't bother him, but he had been caught off guard by her sudden wardrobe change.

"It's my outfit I wear for combat with other Sekirei." she said as she sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"It makes you look very beautiful." he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from my Ashikabi." she said happily. They spent a while talking about the Sekirei Plan and Tetsuya's role in it as her Ashikabi. Uzume explained that the girl chasing her earlier had been another Sekirei attempting to capture her so that her Ashikabi could forcibly wing her. After they had been talking for a while, Tetsuya checked the clock on the wall and saw it was already 20:35.

"Wow it's getting late, shouldn't you be getting home about now?" he asked, even though he wished more than anything that she could stay here with him. As if on cue, a loud thunderclap resounded from outside along with the sound of millions of raindrops falling from the sky onto the roof.

"Well it looks like for now I'm staying the night. Is that okay?" she asked, sitting up and turning to look at her Ashikabi.

"Of course." he said with a smile. She smiled back at him and they spent the next few minutes in silence, staring into each others eyes. Him into her brown eyes. Her staring into his grey ones. Until finally...

"Hey I've gotta shower, make yourself at home." Tetsuya said, standing up and heading to the shower he turned on the water and proceeded to disrobe. He checked his injuries in the mirror. He saw that his bruises had turned a yellow color, that was good, it meant they were healing. His scrapes had scabbed over and had begun to heal nicely, though, there might be some scarring. He stuck his hand under the running water to make sure he wouldn't burn himself, after making sure the water was an okay temperature, he stepped into the shower. He started to wash his injuries to prevent infection and pretended not to hear the door open and Uzume step in.

Uzume

She watched as Tetsuya got up and headed to the shower and closed the door behind him. She waited a few minutes until she was sure he was in she shower. Then with a grin she got up and quietly walked over to the door she peered inside to see Tetsuya stepping into the shower. A few seconds later, she entered the bathroom and removed her battle outfit and pulled her hair to the side and turned to look at her back in the mirror and saw with a smile the Sekirei crest on her back; though this one was different from the one on her clothes from MBI, the marks on either side of the yin-yang continued all the way around the bird shape up until the top, where there was a second yin-yang, along with a large circle that surrounded her entire crest. What did this mean, was there something wrong with her? Or worse, was there something wrong with Tetsuya? She was jarred from her thoughts, by Tetsuya calling from the shower saying,

"Are you just gonna stand there all day, or did you plan to join me in here?" he called to her. She put the matter of her crest out of her mind for now...

"Yeah, I'm coming." she said as she steeped into the shower behind him. She turned and saw the numerous scrapes and cuts along his left side.

"Oh my god, what happened to you side." she asked worriedly. As she gently traced her fingers around the edge of the scrapes on his side.

"I got in an accident, remember? Because **someone** decided to jump into the street in front of my motorcycle." he said without turning around.

"Oh yeah, sorry bout that." she said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

"I'm not. If you hadn't done that we never would've met. I'll gladly bear these injuries if it means I can keep you in my life." he said turning around to face her and reaching out to wrap his arms around her back. She hugged him back and leaned in and rested her hands and head against his toned chest. She noticed for the first time how in shape her Ashikabi was. He obviously cared very much about his body.

"Hey, you're really in shape, you know that?" she asked

"Thanks, I try to work out often. Uncle Seo's busy a lot of the time with work, so I head to the gym a lot. It passes the time." he said.

"You must get lonely often." she said looking up at him, with a look of sadness on her face.

"Yeah, but it's okay, I'm used to it by now. And I know it's not cause he doesn't like me that he's not around, I know he just has to work really hard to support us both and do his schoolwork." said Tetsuya.

"Well Tetsuya, I want you to know that I will fight for you and I'll win too, so we can be together forever. So you never have to be alone again" she said to Tetsuya with a determined look on her face. Tetsuya smiled.

"Thank you, Uzume. I hope we win. I don't want to lose you." Tetsuya said softly.

Uzume was silent for a long while as the hot water from the shower cascaded down on them until Tetsuya said,

"So did you have a reason for joining me in here, because I must say I'm not exactly prepared to "_entertain" _a girl right now." Tetsuya said, pulling away from Uzume to look her in the eye. (AN: I shouldn't have to say it but, Tetsuya is is saying he is too tired and injured for sex.)

"Well I wanted to see if you needed to help washing your back." she said to him

"Oh well as long as you only mean my back, sure." Tetsuya said, turning around.

Over the next 45 minutes Tetsuya and Uzume showered together. Each helping the other to reach to reach the others hard to reach places. Tetsuya had made sure both Uzume and him had kept from doing anything that could lead to risque behavior. Uzume had been more than happy to help him rub salve from the counter on his scrapes and bruises, especially on the ones on his back. All the while apologizing for inadvertently causing them, and every time Tetsuya told her that it was okay, and he was glad she did. Afterward, they stepped out and toweled off, and each of them tied their hair back again, him into his typical ponytail, she tied her hair back to her normal one tail that was separate from the main body of her hair(AN: sorry I know it's a clunky description but that's the best way I know how to put it.). Tetsuya stepped out into the living room to see his uncle Seo sitting on the couch in the living room eating a few slices of pizza. The blood drained from his face as he realized what was happening.

"Hey uncle Seo, you're home... 2 days early..." he said, nervously laughing.

"Hey, yea I got finished with the job earlier than I expected and caught a train home." said

Seo looking back at him.

"Hey Tetsuya, who're you talking to?" Uzume said as she stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a towel. Tetsuya grinned guiltily as Seo saw Uzume and asked,

"Am I, uh.. interrupting something."asked Seo slowly.

"Well..." Tetsuya said in a high pitched tone. He swallowed hard as Seo said to Uzume.

"Sweetie can you give us a minute, I need to talk to my nephew." Uzume nodded and grabbed her clothes from the bathroom and scurried off to Tetsuya's room.

3 hours later...

Tetsuya

Tetsuya walked back into his room to see Uzume asleep on his futon, wearing only her underwear since MBI hadn't sent any pajamas for her, he smiled tiredly. After all that had happened recently, it was all worth it if he could spend more time with her. He didn't know why he suddenly felt so attached to her and he didn't care. He walked over to his dresser in the dark and on the way, accidentally slammed his shin into the corner of his desk.

"Ouch! Dang it!" he exclaimed trying not to wake Uzume. To no avail it seemed, he heard her groan over in his futon as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over at him sleepily.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked sleepily.

"Yeah I'm okay, I'm just gonna get dressed in my pajamas then I'll head out to the couch, you can sleep here tonight." he said grabbing his pajamas from the dresser an turning to leave when he felt Uzume wrap her arms around from behind him and hold him tight against her chest and rest her head on his shoulder.

"Come on don't be a prude, you can sleep with me tonight, besides I can't sleep in your room while you're on the couch. I'd never get any sleep." she said quietly to him. He smiled and said,

"Alrighty, just let me change. I'll be right back.". She nodded and headed back to his futon. He got dressed and went out into the hall and grabbed a blanket and pillow from the closet. He went back into his room and laid the blanket down next to Uzume and set the pillow on top of the blanket and laid down on the blanket. He had no idea what he was going to do. Him and his uncle had had a very long discussion on the the matter of him bringing Uzume back to the apartment. His uncle hadn't been angry, but he had made it very clear he couldn't support both himself, Tetsuya, and Uzume. He'd also said if Tetsuya could afford to bring girls home he could afford to live on his own. That was alright, Uzume had a place of her own for now. But he had no idea what he was going to do about a place to live for himself, the way Uzume had explained it, it sounded like if he left her alone, emerged or not, other Sekirei would try to take her out. He needed to find a place they could both stay. He sighed, tomorrow was gonna suck...

He woke the next day to the feeling of Uzume's breath against his neck and her breasts pressed against his back and her arms wrapped around his chest. Apparently, she had shifted positions sometime at night. He smiled and looked back at her.

"You awake?" he asked her quietly.

"Uh huh." she replied looking at him.

"Why don't you go get dressed? I'm sure my uncle has made breakfast by now. I'll be right out." he said to her.

"Okay. I'll see you soon." she said as she got up and put her jeans and t-shirt back on and headed out to the kitchen. Tetsuya got up and headed back over to his dresser and picked up the back pack next to it along with the duffel bag on top of it and started to fill the bags with his bags with his clothes from the dresser. He walked over to his desk in the corner of the room and grabbed his laptop and and charging cord and put it in his backpack after he had finished putting his clothes in the bags. Uzume walked back into his room just as he was zipping up his backpack.

"Hey are you coming to eat?" she asked, looking at the back pack and duffel bag.

"Hey, is everything alright?" she asked with concern in her voice. Tetsuya turned to look at her, he had hoped he would have more time before he had to tell her but, now was as good a time as any.

"Well, when my uncle and I were talking last night he said that if I can afford to bring back girls to the apartment that I can afford to live on my own. And I couldn't tell him who you really were so I couldn't give a good reason why he shouldn't when he kicked me out. I was gonna tell you later, I swear, I just didn't want to worry you right now. But later today I've gotta go look for an apartment and a job." he said guiltily, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

"Don't worry it's okay. But I still wish you would've told me, I could have helped you. I know a place you could stay." she said kindly, with a gentle smile. She walked over to her Ashikabi,grabbed his hand and led him over to the door.

"But let's worry about that later right now, let's just get some food." she said, leading him back to the kitchen, where Seo had prepared ham,cheese, and green onion omelets for them all. They all ate in silence. Tetsuya couldn't ask any of his questions about the Sekirei plan with his uncle around. And things between him and Seo were still weird after their conversation last night. Tetsuya finished first and headed back to his room and got dressed in a red long sleeved shirt and blue jeans and put on his new jacket, made sure he had packed all his things, checked to make sure he had his phone and keys and wallet. Next he grabbed Uzume's outfit off of the dresser and carefully stored it in his duffel bag. He turned to see Uzume standing behind him leaning up against the doorway.

"So, you said earlier that you knew of a place I could stay. Where is it? Is it close to where you live?" he said putting his backpack on and grabbing the duffel bag from the ground.

"Yea, it's the same place." Uzume said.

"Won't your roommate mind?" he asked curiously.

"Well, she's actually my landlady. And I'm sure we have plenty of space, you'll most likely just share a room with me." she said.

"Oh. Okay, shall we go?" he asked her gesturing to the front door behind Uzume.

"Sure, let's go." said Uzume. She turned and headed to the door on the way they grabbed the two helmets that Tetsuya owned. Just as they were about to leave he turned to Seo, who was just putting his shoes on, and said.

"Alrighty, I'm off, I'll call when I find work. I'll try to visit once in a while." Tetsuya said to Seo.

"Alright, kid. Take care of your girl. Treat her right." said Seo.

"Will do." Tetsuya said with a thumbs-up as he turned and exited the door behind Uzume.

Seo

His eyes widened in shock as he saw his nephew leave, just before the door closed, he saw Uzume's hair get blown aside by a gust of wind. In the instant that Seo could see the back of her neck he saw what was unmistakably, a Sekirei crest...

He sighed. _Takehito, my friend, I'm sorry but I've failed you. Tetsuya's a part of the Sekirei plan. Though maybe ,just maybe, he can save it and turn it back into what it was supposed to be., _thought Seo sadly as he watched his nephew walk out the door.

Tetsuya

It was a bright, sunny day as he and Uzume walked to his bike in the parking lot. It had gotten rained on last night, but seemed to be dry now. He had Uzume wear his backpack, so as not to prevent her from maintaining a stable grip on him. He put the duffel bag directly behind where he would sit so it would remain sandwiched between him and Uzume while they rode. He got on it and put his helmet on, shortly after he felt Uzume get on and grab onto his waist.

"So, where we going Uzume?" he asked.

"Head north past the MBI building and I'll give you directions past there." she said.

"Okay." he said as he closed his helmet visor and turned on the bike. He took off towards the MBI building, afterward Uzume directed him where to go. Eventually they arrived at an inn, the sign on the fence said it was the Maison Izumo Inn. He pulled his bike over next to the curb and turned it off, got off and removed his helmet. He grabbed the duffel bag and followed Uzume up to the front door. She opened it and called out

"Miya I'm home I've got someone I want you to meet." she called as she walked in to what appeared to be a dining room. Se turned to Tetsuya and said,

"Miya's the landlady, she's nice, but be careful, she can be scary too." she said to Tetsuya. Tetsuya nodded in reponse.

"Hello, Uzume I was worried when you didn't come home last night. Where were you?" asked a voice from from Uzume's left. Tetsuya entered and looked to the left to see, a slender yet shapely woman with fair-skin and brown eyes. She had waist-length purple hair with shorter bangs in a hime-style. She wore the traditional attire of a shrine maiden that consisted of a purple hakama, a white haori with a sash-like belt wooden sandals, and a white ribbon to partially hold her hair in place.

"I was with this guy, this is Tetsuya, he's my new Ashikabi." Uzume said, pointing back at Tetsuya.

"Tetsuya Kaoru, nice to meet you ma'am" said Tetsuya, setting down his helmet on the ground next to where Uzume had set hers and set the duffel bag down by his feet, so that he could bow to the landlady.

"My,my, aren't you polite." Miya said with a giggle.

"Thank you ma'am. I must say when Uzume told me of her landlady, I certainly didn't picture a young lady such as yourself running an Inn like this." he said politely.

"Why, thank you, young man. This inn actually belonged to my husband." she said sweetly as Tetsuya noted a man walking down a hall towards the stairs at the end of the hall behind Miya. The man was tall, slender, with silver hair, and was wearing a dress shirt and black slacks.

"Was that him?" he said pointing at where the man was.

Miya turned to look at the man. "Fufufufufu, no that's Kagari, one of my tenants. No my husband passed some time ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that ma'am." said Tetsuya awkwardly, trying to compensate for his blunder.

"It's alright." Miya said.

"Well anyways Miya what I wanted to ask you is it cool if Tetsuya stays here with me, his uncle just kicked him out." said Uzume, bringing the conversation back to it's original topic.

"I'm sure that could be arranged. The rent 50,000¥ a month and covers two square meals a day." Miya said. Tetsuya dug out his wallet and pulled out the MBI credit card.

"This should cover it." he said holding up the card.

"I'm sorry, but that is the only form of payment I don't accept. But if you like, you could do housework to pay your way." said Miya in an oddly sweet voice.

"Oh, okay. I can do that." said Tetsuya, wondering why Miya wouldn't take the money of one of the world's biggest companies. He put it aside for now.

"Alrighty now that that is out of the way come see my room." said Uzume excitedly. As she grabbed Tetsuya's hand and tugged him in the direction of the stairs.

"Alright." said Tetsuya, picking up his duffel bag and helmet and followed Uzume up the stairs down the hall to a room at the end. He entered the room to see that it was fairly sparsely decorated there was only a single futon in the center of the room and little else. Uzume threw open the closet door revealing a host of costumes and outfits.

"So this is my room I'll get another futon from Miya for you to sleep on, I'll be back soon." she said as she ducked back out the door into the hall, Tetsuya set down his cargo and laid down on the futon. He put his hands behind his hands and looked up at the ceiling. _Now, all I need is a job, _he thought tiredly. It was only noon but he felt really tired for some reason. He closed his eyes, he just needed to rest a few seconds of rest...

_He looked around, it looked like he was in a park, in front of him sat a bench. On the bench sat a woman with short, light brown hair, and a sleepy expression. She had a crimson mark on her forehead that perfectly matched the mark on the back of Uzume's normal outfit from MBI. It was a bird with a yin-yang under it with four marks, two on either side. She wore only a bloody lab coat. She looked up at him. "Help me, you are the only one who can save me from them." she said quietly._

"_From who?" he asked. She seemed to be looking at a point behind him. He turned to see what she was looking at. Behind him stood a slim teenager of average height with brown hair next to him stood a man with messy silver colored hair and grey eyes, dressed in black clothing, he wore a light orange scarf around his neck, and is equipped with a sword. They were advancing towards the girl on the bench. Behind them both stood many women of varying shapes and sizes. He turned back to face her._

"_Help me." she said quietly._

"_How?" he asked desperately._

Before she could answer he was awoken by Uzume saying,

"Wake up sleepy head. Are you okay?"

"I... I don't know,: he said breathlessly, remembering. Who was she? Who were those other two?

"What's going on?" asked Uzume with concern in her voice.

"Uzume, I have absolutely no idea." he said disbelievingly as he looked up at his Sekirei.

End of Chapter 2

Sorry guys, I know it's long but I didn't have a good stopping point till now. So as always feel free to inbox me any questions, ideas, or comments you have.

**SPOILER ALERT!**

No, nothing is wrong with Uzume or Tetsuya. Tetsuya being a new kind of Ashikabi means he leaves a different mark on his Sekirei than others do. And perhaps in later chapters they leave their own marks on him, who knows, anything could happen

**SPOILERS OVER!**

My next chapter will most likely be a lot shorter. My next update will probably take a little while longer.


	3. The Ice Sekirei

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's character's. I own only Tetsuya

Author's note: I'd like to thank all my faithful readers for all your good reviews and ideas for the story. I like a lot of your guys' ideas and plan to use quite a few of them. I have finally hammered out a list of possible Sekireis for Tetsuya, PM me for details. Inbox me any questions you have. Also the poll for whether or not Tetsuya will wing the Twins will close on Valentine's Day, February 14th. so cast your vote before then. Also one last thing, I didn't seem to do a good job of saying that Tetsuya will NOT love Uzume the mos,t he will love all of his Sekireis, he will love them all equally, I've tried to say that from the beginning. Though the dynamics of his relationship with each of them will probably vary between each one of them.

Chapter 3: The Ice Sekirei

"What do you mean?" Uzume asked in response to her Ashikabi's strange answer to her last question.

"I just had the weirdest dream." he said, sitting upright.

"Weird how?" she asked as she laid the futon in her arms down flat on the floor next to her own, which was currently occupied by her Ashikabi. She walked back over to the door to close it.

"There was this girl, she was sitting on a park bench, she looked like she might be hurt. She looked at me and said I was the only one who could save her. I looked back and saw this dude in white, along with another guy in black holding a sword, they were walking toward her and she looked scared of them. I think she was a Sekirei..." he said, looking at Uzume.

"How could you tell she was a Sekirei? Did she say she was one?" Uzume asked.

"No, but she had the same mark on her forehead as the one on the back of your shirt." he said pointing to the back of Uzume's shirt, just below the collar.

"Huh... I've never heard of a Sekirei with their crest on their forehead." said Uzume thoughtfully as she moved to close the door. Uzume turned to look down the hall at what appeared to be a solid wall. She turned back to Tetsuya, who was now going through his backpack and said "But I think I might know someone who'd know more about that subject. She lives in-"

"What was that Uzume?" someone asked sweetly from behind Uzume. Tetsuya turned quickly to see Miya standing in the doorway, with a purple hannya mask floating behind her.

"N-nothing, I meant to say I don't know anyone who'd know about that." Uzume said, sounding terrified.

"That's what I thought. By the way, Tetsuya could you sweep the walkway outside once you get settled?" she said.

"Yea, of course Miya. I'll get right on it." Tetsuya said.

"Alright, I'll see you at dinner." she said as she turned and left. Tetsuya turned to Uzume with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, what was that?" he asked her in a questioning tone.

"What was what?" she said, turning to face him.

"The way you acted when Miya showed up, you acted like she threatened to beat you to death with a soup ladle." he said.

"What didn't you see that look she gave me? Didn't it scare you?" she asked disbelievingly. She found it hard to believe that there was someone immune to Miya's "death stare".

"Not really, it looked more like she was hiding something." said Tetsuya, still trying to piece together what had just happened just now.

"...Well let's just say there are more people living here than you think. If I told you more, Miya really would beat me to death with a soup ladle." Uzume leaned in close and whispered to him.

"Oookay... Well I gotta go clean the walkway. I'll see ya later." he said, getting up and heading toward the stairs. He walked down the hall reading the various room numbers until he got to the stairs.

_Wait, that can't be right., _he thought. He looked back and scanned the room numbers along the wall.

_No, I was right. There's no room 201. But why would they not build a room 201, _he thought. Then he looked at the wall closest to the stairs, and placed his hand on it. _If they were gonna build a 201, it would be right here., _he thought, drawing on the knowledge of architecture his uncle had taught him while he worked construction when Tetsuya was little. _Why does this wall look familiar? I've never been here before, _he thought. He shook his head, he'd have to think on it later, he had work to do right now.

He descended the stairs and headed to the kitchen and grabbed the broom he had seen there on his arrival and headed outside to the walkway and started to sweep. He finished an hour later and headed back inside. He walked back into the room he shared with Uzume to see that she was asleep on the floor. _She looks beautiful, even when she's asleep, _he thought with a smile. He quietly ducked back out, not wanting to wake her. He headed back to the kitchen, when he got there he opened the fridge and bent over and perused the contents, he found what he was looking for shortly, right at eye level there was a carton of milk. He grabbed it and examined it, frowning when he saw that it was 2%. He closed the fridge and saw the landlady Miya enter the kitchen.

"Hey Miya I'm gonna head out and pick up some milk. I'll be back later." he said to the landlady.

"Why, we have milk in the fridge?" she asked tilting her head at him.

"I prefer whole milk and besides.." he said, he looked around when he saw they were alone leaned in close and whispered.

"I have a nasty habit of drinking from the carton." he whispered

"My,my,my, where did you pick up that nasty habit?" she asked as the hannya mask appeared behind her again.

"It tends to happen when the only person you live with is your uncle. I promise to try not to do it while I live here." he said with a shrug, leaning back to get some distance from her.

"Well, if you're going out, could you pick up somethings for dinner?" she asked, pulling out a shopping list from her dress.

"Of course, anything for my lovely landlady." he said politely as he took the shopping list from her and headed up to his room with Uzume. He entered quietly and managed to grab his helmet and now-empty backpack and exit without waking Uzume. He went back out to his bike and took off for a grocery store he had seen on his way there, earlier that day.

Miya

_My, my, Uzume's Ashikabi sure is a nice, polite young man_, she thought. Though something about the boy bothered her, he seemed familiar, yet she was almost absolutely sure she had never met him before. Maybe it was his last name, but no, that was impossible. There was no way Seo could've raised a boy like that. Besides, Seo had never married to her knowledge. Then again, she hadn't seen him in decades, not since before Takehito died, right after running away with their child... _No, it can't be..., _she thought. _Seo would've told me... Then again if Takehito had told him not to, he wouldn't have, _she thought. Maybe it was time she gave Seo a call...

Tetsuya

He took off towards the store on his motorcycle. He arrived at the store and decided to park a few blocks away, it was a nice day out anyways. On his way to the grocery store two girls who appeared to be twins handed him a brochure. He pocketed it, paying it no mind. He continued to the store. He spent about an hour familiarizing himself with the store while shopping, after he was finished, he headed back to his bike, the girls from before seemed to have left, he got to his bike and put the groceries in his back. He got on his bike and headed back to Maison Izumo. The sun was just starting to set when he got back to the inn. While he was outside he noticed that there was a large portion of the upper floor that seemed inaccessible from upstairs, it was the same area where room 201 should be. _This just keeps getting weirder and weirder, _he thought curiously. He walked into the dining room and called out,

"Miya I'm back, I've got the groceries." he called out loudly.

"Thanks just set them on the table I'll take care of them." she called from the kitchen. He removed the groceries for his backpack and set them on the table. He walked back into the kitchen to see what was going on, he wanted to know why there wasn't a room 201 anyways. When he entered he saw Miya talking on the phone with someone. He ducked out, not wanting to eavesdrop. He headed back upstairs to see if Uzume was awake yet. When he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped. _Ah, what the hell, _he thought. He reached over and knocked three times on the wall next to the stairs.

"Hey Miya, that you?" asked a voice from inside, it sounded female.

"No... It's Tetsuya, the new tenant." he said slowly as he looked the wall over.

"Nice try, Miya, a fake voice won't fool me, even without my glasses I can see you hair on the monitor, though I must say I like your new hairstyle.." said the voice from inside.

"What monitor?" Tetsuya asked, sounding annoyed. He looked around and noticed a small hidden camera in a corner of the stairwell ceiling.

"Oh my god, sorry I just found my glasses. Wait! How did you know I was here?!" she asked frantically.

"I didn't, I just noticed there was no room 201. I thought if it'd be anywhere it'd be here and I figured knocking couldn't hurt." he said with a shrug.

"Well, what do you want?" she asked, sounding irritated.

"Can we talk inside? I mean I already know where you are, so why can't we be civil?" he asked, trying to be polite. The voice inside sighed, "Fine. I guess" said the voice and Tetsuya watched as the wall turned open and a woman stepped out. The woman had long red hair with side plaits and was wearing detached sleeves that resembled a cheongsam and glasses.

"Hey earlier, before Miya interrupted her, Uzume said you might know something about a Sekirei with her crest on her forehead." Tetsuya said to the woman.

"I might, my name's Matsu by the way." she said, extending her hand. Doing his best to flatter her, Tetsuya took her hand and kissed it.

"Nice to meet you Matsu, as your camera indicates, you already know that I'm Tetsuya, Uzume's Ashikabi." he said, being as polite as he could. Matsu blushed furiously and giggled.

"Well come on in Tetsuya, let's see if I can't help you find what you're looking for." she said, still blushing. Tetsuya stepped into the room, which was filled to bursting with computer equipment and monitors.

"So what are you looking for?" she asked as she sat down at a keyboard.

"I need to find a Sekirei with auburn hair and her crest is on her forehead." he said.

"Alrighty, give me a minute." she said as she began to type furiously. Tetsuya sat his backpack and helmet on the floor and tried to wait patiently as she worked. He felt weirdly on edge for some reason. A few minutes later, Matsu asked,

"Is this her?" she said pointing to the monitor, Tetsuya leaned in and examined the screen, she was wearing more clothes, but it was surely the same girl from his dream.

"Yep, that's her." he said.

"That's Akitsu, the former number 7, the Ice Sekirei." said Matsu.

"What do you mean former, she's not dead is she?" asked Tetsuya, sounding concerned.

"No, she's alive, but there was an accident with her adjustments and she lost her ability to emerge, she's no longer a part of the Sekirei plan." said Matsu, adjusting her glasses.

"Can you find her for me? Is that something you can do?" he asked hopefully.

"I'll try." she said as she began to type furiously. Tetsuya di his best to wait, he didn't know why but he was suddenly totally anxious.

"I found her, she's in a park 3 km from here." she said. Suddenly the was a loud beep. Followed by,

"Uh, oh.." she said nervously.

"Uh oh! What's uh oh?!" he asked worriedly.

"Well it says here that Hayato Mikogami of the South, is on his way to that location. If you're hoping to get to her, you better do it fast, that guy is known for forcefully winging Sekirei to make them serve him. He sees Sekireis as nothing more than pieces in a game, and he's got a really powerful one with him right now, on his way to her." she said.

Tetsuya's blood had turned to ice, he got up and ran back to his room,

"Thanks Matsu you're a life-saver!" he called back.

He got to his room, threw the door open, ran over to his duffel bag and grabbed a baggy shirt and jeans out of it and stuffed them into his backpack. The commotion must have woken Uzume, be cause he heard her mutter behind him,

"Tetsuya, what going on?" she muttered sleepily. He ran back over to he and knelt down next to her, he took her face in his hands.

"Nothing babe, I just gotta go do something. I'll be back soon, okay?" he said and kissed her forehead.

"Okay, I'll see you later." she said with a smile as Tetsuya rushed back out. He ran down the stairs, and grabbed his spare helmet. He ran outside and mounted his bike, he put the keys in and tried to kick start it. Nothing happened,

"Come on, not now, COME ON!" he said as he tried to kick start it again. He kicked the third time as hard as he could, the bike roared to life, he donned his helmet and gunned the engine and sped off in the direction of the only park in the area. He flew through the streets swerving between cars, anything to get to that park faster, he probably was doing 60 mile over the limit, but he didn't care. He reached the park to see the man with the sword letting a young boy out of a black luxury car.

"Dammit!" he swore. That's when he noticed a walkway that ran through the center of the park and midway along the walkway was a bench, and on it sat the girl from his dreams. Tetsuya gunned the engine and mounted the curb with his motorcycle, he sped down the walkway, honking his horn so people would move out of his way. He sped down the walkway until he pulled the brakes as hard as he could and turned as hard as he could until he skidded to a stop in front of the bench. His little stunt had not gone unnoticed by the visitors, the boy was walking quickly towards him followed by the man with the sword. Tetsuya deployed his kickstand and got off of his bike and grabbed the extra helmet out of his bag and jogged over to the bench. He saw the girl looking at him with a strange look on her face.

Akitsu

Who was this boy who had just skidded to a halt in front of her. He was tall, good looking, and athletic. He had light purple shoulder length hair with steel grey eyes, a few shades lighter than her own. She felt like she had seen him before. But she knew she hadn't, she had only left Kamekura Island a few days ago when she had arrived in the city she had gone in for adjustments, when that man had made a mistake and cost her the one thing most important to a Sekirei, her ability to find an Ashikabi. But still, when she saw this boy, the mark on her forehead started to burn like it was on fire. But that wasn't possible, she couldn't react to anyone anymore. She wouldn't be able to react to anyone ever again.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked urgently.

"I... have nowhere to go... I am a failure, a broken product" she said quietly. He quickly look over to the two men who had gotten out of the black car and were now walking briskly toward her.

"Akitsu, I know someone made an accident and caused you to be thrown away. But I saw you in a dream, and you asked me to save you, you don't have to serve me, but at least I'll treat you like a person, that boy over there will use you and when you're no longer useful he'll throw you away again." he said pointing at the rapidly approaching boy who was less than 20 meters from them now.

"Also, I could never consider anything as beautiful as you a failure. So will you come with me?" he asked as he extended his hand toward her. She looked at his hand and for some reason she couldn't fathom, she reached out and took his hand and pulled herself off the bench. He took off his coat and put it on her shoulders. It was very warm, she thought as she put her arms through the sleeves. As she did he slid the helmet he held over her head and buckled it underneath her chin.

"Get on, quickly!" he said as he got back on his motorcycle. She followed him on and wrapped her arms around his chest, pulled herself close to him, pressing her breasts against his backpack and buried face in his neck, she breathed in his scent. _He smells good, _she thought.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to release that girl to me." said the boy from behind Tetsuya. Tetsuya turned to look at the boy and said,

"Sorry Hayato, I know all about you. I'm not letting you take Akitsu to use as your pawn. No, I'm gonna take her somewhere you'll never be able to get to her." said Tetsuya determinedly. He felt Akitsu squeeze tighter around his chest in response.

"Well I'm sorry, I can't let you do that. Mutsu, retrieve the girl for me, will you?" The boy said to the man in black next to him. The man started to advance toward Tetsuya.

"You really don't want to do that Mutsu." said the boy in a sweet, yet intimidating tone. Mutsu paused, he could swear he saw a hannya mask floating behind the man, just like **that** woman used to have... Tetsuya took advantage of Mutsu's pause to take off in the opposite direction, he was headed towards a gas station with a restroom on the back of it on the other side of the park. He stopped out side the gas station bathroom door, looked around furtively, he got off and headed to the bathroom door and opened it,

"Come in here, let's get you changed." he said motioning inside the bathroom, Akitsu got off the bike and headed inside. As she passed him, he took off his backpack and handed it to her.

"There are some clothes in there for you." he said as he handed the bag to her, she headed inside and closed the door behind her. Who was this boy that had rode out of nowhere and seemed to care so much about her? She took off the helmet and bloody lab coat she was wearing and reached in side the bag and put on the hoodie and jeans that were inside. They were warm from being in the backpack for so long. She brought one of the sleeves to her face and inhaled deeply, they smelled the same as he did. She headed back outside to see Tetsuya still waiting for her, she suddenly realized she had been scared that he would leave her alone again. But, why did her body feel so hot when she looked at him? Especially when he had stopped those other two from taking her.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, looking at her with concern.

"Yes." she said quietly as she handed his coat back to him, he put it back on and got on the bike again, she got on and sat behind him and put her helmet back on. She wrapped her arms around his chest and they took off. For where, she did not know. She looked at the boy in front of her, _will he accept me?_, she thought looking at the boy.

Tetsuya

They arrived at Maison Izumo shortly, where he parked and got off and led Akitsu inside only to see everyone sitting down to dinner. Miya looked up at Tetsuya and his new guest.

"Tetsuya, who's this young lady?" she asked, surprised.

"This is Akitsu she's a Sekirei I just found her in the park she has nowhere else to go. I know it's a lot to ask but do you think she could stay here for a while?" he asked sheepishly.

"Well, we'll talk about that once we find her her some clothes." Miya said.

"Of course I'll be out back if you need me." he said as he headed out back and sat under the tree in the backyard. Half an hour later Akitsu came out wearing a pink kimono and sat next to him. She looked uncomfortable about something, her face was flushed and breathing heavily.

"Is everything alright? You look like you might be sick." he said sounding concerned.

"I'm alright, but I wanted to thank you for saving from those two. And I want you to know I'll do my best to be useful to you so you never have to throw me away." she said, looking him in the eyes.

"I'll never throw you away Akitsu." he said kindly to her. "I'm not like those people at MBI, as long as it's okay with Miya, you can stay here as long as you want."

"Thank you..." she said as she laid her head down on his shoulder.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked quietly after a while.

"Of course." he said.

"Would you want me as your Sekirei?" she asked quietly.

"Of course, any Ashikabi would be lucky to have you by his side. But if you want to be my Sekirei I won't stop you" he said. She took her head off his shoulder and turned to look at him.

"You mean it? I can stay by your side?" she asked in an eager tone.

"As long as you want to, yes." he said. In response to this she threw her arm around him and hugged him tightly. Her body began to shake a little. _Was she crying_, he thought.

Akitsu

She hugged the boy who had agreed to let her be his Sekirei. She pressed her face into his shoulder as tears of joy started to roll own her cheeks. She had thought for sure that she would never find an Ashikabi who would accept her. Yet despite all her certainty. this boy had proved her prediction wrong.

"Are you okay Akitsu?" he asked her. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

"Yes I'm fine, I'm just so happy." she said quietly. Maybe if he could accept her then he could also... No it was impossible, not even he could... but she'd never know if she didn't try. She looked into the grey eyes of her new Ashikabi and leaned forward. She brought her face to his and gently kissed Tetsuya on the lips.

Ecstasy! The feeling that she had thought for sure that she'd never thought she'd feel after the accident, the feeling of being emerged as she felt the crest on her forehead disappear and migrate to just below her neck. It was a feeling beyond words, she had found her Ashikabi, not just in name, but in bond too. She was happier than she ever believed she could be

Tetsuya

Tetsuya watched in disbelieving awe as the crest on Akitsu's forehead disappeared and wings of white-blue light sprouted from Akitsu's back. That was impossible Matsu had said that no one could wing her because of the accident. Thoughts flew through Tetsuya's head as he wondered why he could wing the Sekirei that MBI said was impossible to wing...

Miya

Miya watched from as second floor window as her new tenant winged a broken number Sekirei.

Seo had been right, this boy was undoubtedly hers and Takehito's son, though she had no clue how she was going to tell him. She wasn't even sure she wanted to tell him...

_Over at MBI headquarters..._

Sahashi Takami ran across the roof to where Minaka was standing over the city.

"MINAKA, SOMEONE HAS WINGED NUMBER 7!" she shouted at the president. The man in white whirled around,

"Impossible she's broken! No one can wing her!" Minaka exclaimed.

"Well, impossible or not someone has it looks like someone has, and it looks like they're at Maison Izumo..."

"Home of the Hannya of the North... Things are getting interesting" said the president. _Who is this player who can break the rules of the Game Master..., _he thought.

End of Chapter 3

Please Read and Review.

I re-wrote a little of this chapter to fix some errors. I've created a new forum under anime/Sekirei, called Tetsuya Asama's flock it contains a list of possible Sekirei that Tetsuya might wing, I will add addtional list for Minato.

**SPOILER ALERT!**

Also an idea for the future what would happen if during the second or third stage Higa or Mikogami lost all their forcibly winged Sekirei...

**SPOILERS OVER!**


	4. A Short Return to Normal(ish) Life

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

"Author's Note: Alrighty, again thanks to all my readers, we broke 1200 views this last chapter. Though, I regret to say I have less than 30 reviews as of yet, though only one is an apparent flamer, (You know who you are!) so yay to that. I have posted a possible list of Sekirei for Tetsuya in the forum Tetsuya Asama's Flock, The forum was created so that you guys can pose questions to me without having to include them in your review. Also still feel free to PM me I will usually get back to you within a day. I will mostly likely turn it into a poll for you guys to vote on after the Twins poll closes on Valentine's Day. Also Mr. ShadowUzumaki39, I will use your idea in a later chapter and I would like to thank you for that particular idea, and best of luck to you on making your profile, I hope you figure something out. Also, any who didn't realize last chapter, the person that Miya was on the phone with was indeed Seo. I just cant believe people haven't asked where all theses supposed Sekirei are gonna live. I mean, Maison Izumo is only so big, the upper floor only has 4 rooms after all. I apologize for any delay with you being able to read this chapter, fanfiction has been weird lately.

Chapter 4- A Short Return to Normal(ish) Life... Followed Immediately By A Slap to the Face From Reality

Tetsuya pulled back to look at the beautiful Sekirei and woman he had just winged. Her eyes were a little red from crying, though she was smiling, and her eyes told Tetsuya that she felt truly happy right now.

"Thank you." Akitsu whispered thankfully.

"For what?" Tetsuya asked, genuinely confused.

"For accepting me, and allowing me to be your Sekirei." she said sitting down next to him under one of the trees in the backyard of Maison Izumo.

"You're welcome, but you should know that if you hadn't wanted to be my Sekirei, I still would've talked to Miya about staying here until you found your Ashikabi." he said, not wanting her to feel like he had only promised to help in return for her being his Sekirei.

"I know, but thank you all the same." she said gratefully as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"No problem, hey I'd love to stay and chat, but it's getting late and I've still gotta bathe, eat, and talk to Miya about you staying here, I'm still really new here myself anyways." he said as he prepared to get up.

"Alright, can I see you later?" she asked as he got up. She knew it was illogical, but part of her was still scared he'd abandon her like MBI had. She felt bad for even thinking it, but it was her biggest fear, going back to being out in the cold, left alone, with no one to love. That was, after all what Sekireis were originally meant to do. They were meant to love.

"Well I should hope so, we will be living together from now on after all." he said confidently. He turned to see her face light up at his words he smiled back at her as he went back inside. He looked around the kitchen and dining room but couldn't find Miya. He saw Kagari heading toward his room, he looked tired and Tetsuya could swear that he had bandages on his hands.

"Hey, have you seen Miya lately?" he called down the hall to the only other man in the house.

"Yea, she's upstairs I think." he called back down the hall to Tetsuya. Tetsuya turned and headed up the stairs to the second floor, only to run into the landlady on the stairs.

"Oh, hey Miya, thanks for helping out Akitsu earlier. I know I've only been here a day, and I'm sorry to ask so much of you." he said gratefully to her. He turned and started to follow her down the stairs and out to the dining room.

"It was no trouble, I like to help out however I can." she said with a giggle as she turned to face Tetsuya.

"Is it cool if she stays here? I wouldn't ask, it's just she has nowhere else to go." he said as he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, he had always hated asking for help.

"Of course, as long as she's willing to help out, it's no trouble." she said warmly.

"Thanks Miya, you're so awesome!" he said excitedly as he grabbed one of her hands in his two hands and gratefully shook it.

"It's my pleasure. By the way Tetsuya, the bath is ready if you need it." she said in her usual kind tone.

"Alright, thanks for letting me know. I'll head there right after I head up to get some new clothes." he said as he turned and headed back up the stairs.

"You're awesome Miya!" he called back as he headed up the stairs.

Miya

She giggled as her son headed up the stairs. Seo sure had raised him to be a fine young man, she only wished that Takehito hadn't had to send their son away. She would've liked to have the chance to raise their son, even if it would've been alone. Takehito had wanted to stop him from being part of the Sekirei plan, but it seemed that was futile now. She had so many regrets about this boy, that he had to be involved in the Sekirei plan, that he had to be ignorant of who his parents were, but most of all she wished that this boy had had the chance to meet his father.

She knew she'd have to tell him who she was to him one day, but today was not that day. For now she was content with the chance to meet her son, something she'd never dreamed she had the chance to do before now. He was going to be a great Ashikabi, that she knew for sure.

Tetsuya

He headed up to his room to see Uzume was up. She was wearing only underwear, it looked like she had only just woken up.

"Hey how are you doing?" he asked as he went over to his duffel bag and fished out his pajamas.

"I'm good, who's the girl out back?" she asked, in response to her question Tetsuya sat bolt upright. He had no idea how he was going to explain Akitsu to Uzume.

"Well, you know the girl from my dream... I sort of found her and winged her... and... that's her outside." he said quickly.

"Oh so you've got two Sekirei now? Look at you go, you stud." she said teasingly, as she draped her arms over her Ashikabi's shoulders and ran her hands over his toned chest.

"Wait, so you're not mad?" he asked, puzzled.

"No, of course not, I've known from the moment you winged me that you were my Ashikabi and that I might one day have to share you, and I'm okay with that." she said as she laid her chin on his shoulder.

"You're so awesome, I don't deserve either of you." he said happily as he stood and turned around and kissed her on the lips, enjoying the sight of her beautiful wings spreading out behind her as he did. Tetsuya pulled away from her so he could get a good look at her, Uzume giggled and noticed the folded pajamas in his hands.

"Where are you going with those?" she asked, pointing at the clothes in his hands.

"I'm gonna take a bath and then I'm going to hit the sack. Hard. I've had a very long day." he said.

"That you have, want some company?" she asked with a wink.

"Only if you're willing to explain it to Miya when your hands start wandering." he said, teasing her. In response to this Uzume shuddered.

"On second thought, you have fun." she said sounding scared. Tetsuya didn't get why Miya scared Uzume so much but he shrugged it off. He was too tired to think on that right now.

He headed downstairs to the bath with his pajamas. He entered and undressed and put his clothes in one of the baskets in the shelf against the wall. He took the ribbon out of his hair and put it in the basket with his clothes. He headed in and lowered himself into the warm water. He checked his injuries, they all looked as if they would heal within a week. He was in the middle of washing his hair when he heard the door open behind him.

"Oh sorry Miya, I didn't realize you were in here." he heard a voice behind him say in an embarrassed tone. Tetsuya turned to see Kagari standing in the doorway, looking embarrassed.

"Screw you too, man." Tetsuya said in an annoyed tone, making sure to flip Kagari the bird in response to his remark.

"Sorry, it's just from the back you look like Miya." said Kagari apologetically, rubbing the back of his head.

"In the same way that Matsu looks like Akitsu from behind. Dude come on, we look nothing alike." he said to the man behind him.

"I'm sorry, alright? Let's just drop it okay?" said Kagari, obviously not wanting to discuss this further.

"Yeah sure, so whats up man?" Tetsuya asked as Kagari sat down in the other tub.

"Not much. Why do you ask?" asked Kagari, turning to face him in the tub.

"'Cuz earlier it looked like you had bandages on your hand." said Tetsuya, remembering the sight from earlier.

"Oh that, I just burned myself at my job earlier this week. I'm a host and I stumbled while cutting through the kitchen, I slipped and fell onto the stove. But it's no biggie, it'll heal soon enough" said Kagari.

"Man, I gotta get me one of those." said Tetsuya as he tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling.

"What? A burn?" asked Kagari quizzically.

"No, a job!" said Tetsuya with a laugh.

"Oh, okay." said Kagari. They were silent for a while until a thought occurred to Tetsuya.

"Hey man if you're a host, how come it hasn't occurred to you to "try anything" with any of the lovely ladies that live her at the Inn. I mean I know it'd be inappropriate with Miya, but until recently both Uzume and Matsu were up for grabs, come on you're a reasonably attractive guy, you had to have a reasonably high chance there." he said, looking at Kagari as he did.

"Well, that particular subject is rather complicated." Kagari said evasively.

"Does someone bat for the other team?" Tetsuya teased playfully.

"What?! No! It's just, I'm not their type that's all." said Kagari defensively as he started to blush.

"Uh huh, I'm sure." said Tetsuya, making it painfully obvious that he didn't believe the man.

"Whatever I gotta go I have to get up early tomorrow." said Kagari quickly as he got up and left. Tetsuya sat lone in the bath until 5 minutes later Akitsu showed up. She poked her head inside and looked around.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked in her usual quiet, withdrawn tone.

"Of course not, come on in." Tetsuya said to his newest Sekirei. Akitsu entered and sat down in the water next to him. She turned and looked over at her new Ashikabi.

"Do you need help washing your back?" she asked, with what Tetsuya could swear was a note of eagerness in her voice.

"Nah, I already did that earlier. But I appreciate your enthusiasm." Tetsuya said.

Oh, okay..." said Akitsu looking crestfallen.

"Hey this didn't come up earlier, but I already have a Sekirei, her name is Uzume, I live here with her. The way things are going, it looks like I might also gain more in the future. That doesn't bother you, does it?" he asked, he hadn't thought to ask her before she kissed him earlier.

"No, I'm fine with that. As long as I can remain by your side, I shall be content." she said, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Alright and Akitsu?" he said.

"Yes?" she said taking her head off his shoulder to look at him in the eyes.

"I'm glad you let me be your Ashikabi. I know you didn't have to, but I'm glad you did." he said to her as he gazed into her grey eyes, they were the color of the sky before a storm and he knew it sounded sappy and romantic, but he wanted to get lost in her eyes.

"It is I, who should be grateful to you. I thought for sure I would never have have a chance to meet my Ashikabi, but somehow you gave me the chance to become your Sekirei. And for that Tetsuya, I will always love you and I will do whatever I can to protect you." she said as she once again leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. Tetsuya watched as her wings appeared from her back again. They looked different from Uzume's, but they were just as beautiful. She broke the kiss to gaze at her Ashikabi once more. Tetsuya smiled he would love to spend all night with her, but he was starting to get pruney and he needed to be awake early tomorrow. He stood up and turned to head to the bath exit.

"Where are you going?" asked Akitsu, and Tetsuya realized that for some strange reason, she still thought that he might discard her. Tetsuya smiled, he had an idea

"I've gotta head to bed soon." he said, looking at Akitsu sitting naked in the tub.

"Oh, okay. I think I shall head up as well." she said, obviously trying to hide the fact that she was scared of being alone again. The both walked back into the area containing their clothes they both grabbed their towels and dried off. The after he had finished putting his pajamas on, Tetsuya took his mother's ribbon in his hands,

"Akitsu, may I see your wrist for a second?" he asked her. She looked at him, now fully dressed in the kimono Miya had given her, with a puzzled expression but extended her wrist nonetheless. Tetsuya took her wrist in his hands and began to wind the ribbon around her wrist.

"What are you doing Tetsuya?" she asked sounding confused. Tetsuya looked up at her,

"It's obvious to me that for some reason, you still believe that I might still discard you. And I'm giving you this ribbon, it belonged to my mother, and though I never met her, it is my most precious possession in this world. It is the only thing I have of hers. Now I give it to you, as a way to tell you that I will never abandon you. I will always return to you and Uzume. Because nothing in this world matters more to me than you and her." he said as he finished wrapping it around her wrist and tied a bow in it to ensure it would stay on. He looked up to see Akitsu, gazing at him through tear-filled eyes. Before he could ask if everything was okay, she flung herself at him an hugged him tightly as she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. He could feel his shirt getting wet from her tears, but he didn't mind. He wrapped his arms around her comparatively small frame and rubbed her back with one hand.

"Thank you so much for this, I want you to know I will treasure this always, and now more than ever I am committed to fighting and winning for you." she said her face still in his shoulder.

"I wish you didn't have to fight. The more I learn about this Sekirei Plan, the more I dislike it." he said sadly. She looked at him once more and wiped the tears from her eyes with one of her sleeves with a sniff. They headed back upstairs, only to run into Miya up on the second floor, who explained that Tetsuya would now have a separate room from his Sekirei. Tetsuya pleaded with his landlady to let him share a room with his Sekirei for one night. While she originally said no, after assurance from both Akitsu and Uzume that if she said no, they would simply sneak in later, she grudgingly agreed to let them spend the night together. Provided of course, that Tetsuya swore on his new home, not to engage in any untoward behavior that night. Tetsuya obliged, and went down into Uzume's room and laid down on the futon between Akitsu and Uzume and laid his head down to sleep knowing that this was probably the only time he'd ever share a room with them without having to worry about being caught. He looked down to see Uzume resting her head against his shoulder while Akitsu had been less subtle and just fallen asleep on top of him.

The next day Tetsuya awoke with his head in something soft. He couldn't quite place what it was as his head was still foggy from sleep, whatever it was, it smelled wonderful. He reached out to grab a hold of it. It felt soft and pliable yet also fairly firm. He was still unsure of what it was, until he felt part of it stiffen and press into his palm. All color drained his face as he realized exactly what his face was buried in.

"Akitsu?" he said tentatively without opening his eyes.

"Yes, Tetsuya?" he heard in response.

"Please get dressed, if Miya were to walk in right now I would have nowhere to live." he said trying very hard to keep calm with the knowledge of where his head was resting fresh in his mind.

"Alright, I apologize." he heard Akitsu say, he lifted his head to and opened his eyes to see Akitsu sit up and head over to a small bag of clothes that Miya had given her. Apparently, sometime earlier Akitsu had gotten too warm and stripped down to absolutely nothing, save the ribbon still tied on her wrist. Tetsuya smiled, he was gonna miss the ribbon, but it meant more to Akitsu right now than it ever would to him .He checked his phone to see that it was 7:00 in the morning, he let his arm drop and let his eyes wander over to Akitsu dressing in the corner.

He gazed at her as she started to dress, by all standards she was more than beautiful, pale flawless alabaster skin, a more than ample chest, a tight waist, and toned buttocks, beautiful eyes, and the thing Tetsuya loved most about her, the fact that out of 8 billion people in the world, she had chosen him.(Sekirei takes place in 2020 I'm making a conservative educated guess.) She had decided that he was special enough to devote herself totally to. Even though Tetsuya could think of hundreds of people more deserving of her love than he, she had chosen him. He could settle down with a girl like her... He could give his first time to a girl like her. Or to Uzume, Buddha, what was he thinking. He had two girls both equally beautiful and amazing, willing to love him unconditionally. How was he supposed to choose? He was fine loving them both but they deserved better, one of them deserved his full attention. He didn't know who and he couldn't decide. It wasn't fair to them, he would barely have time to treat one of them the way they deserved with a normal life, but with the Sekirei plan, and the prospect of him winging more Sekirei he couldn't afford to give either the time or attention they deserved. He sighed, he'd think on that later. He had to look for a job today, he got up and and grabbed his bacpack and helmet and headed downstairs to eat he saw a box in the dining room that looked identical to the one that had arrived after he'd winged Uzume.

"Oh, hey Tetsuya that box arrived earlier this morning from MBI for you." said Miya who was sitting down to breakfast with Uzume, who was still dressed in her lingerie nightie form the previous night.

"Thanks Miya, I'll take it upstairs then I'll come back and eat. I probably won't see you till later tonight." he said. He walked over to the box and opened it up to see a white and black outfit in the box, it looked like a haori. Tetsuya grabbed the box and headed upstairs and dropped it in Uzume's room. While he was in there he saw Akitsu still getting dressed.

"Hey Akitsu, this box showed up from MBI, I'm guessing the clothes in it are yours. And hey, I'll be out looking for a job today so I won't be back until late." he said to his Sekirei. Akitsu nodded at him from across the room and headed over to the box.

"These are my clothes, thanks for bringing them up." she said.

"It's no trouble. I guess I'll see you later." he said as he turned to leave, but before he could he felt Akitsu grab him from behind and hold him close.

"Thank you again, not making me your Sekirei, but for giving me the ribbon. I can tell it meant a lot to you, thank you for giving it to me. I cannot tell you how much it means to me that you did." said Akitsu appreciatively. Tetsuya smiled and removed her arms form his chest, he turned around to face her,

"Don't mention it. I did it to make sure you knew I'd never abandon you. I'd love to stay and chat but I've gotta go, and you've got to put some clothes on." he said to his still half-naked Sekirei. He headed downstairs to the kitchen, quickly scarfed down the breakfast Miya had made him, and gratefully thanked Miya for the delicious meal. While on his way out he ran into Uzume, still dressed in her nightie,

"Hey I'm heading out, I'll be back later. You and Akitsu have fun while I'm out. I'll be back later." he said to Uzume. Uzume hugged him and said,

"Alrigh, I hope you find a job. I'll see you later." Tetsuya kissed her quickly on the cheek, and after noting her outfit added,

"Why don't you change? Before Miya gets mad at you and decides to kick us out." he said

"Aww, but this outfit is so comfy." she said with a pouting expression.

"Hey I'm just saying it'd be best all of our living situation if you did, I personally love your outfit, but I doubt Miya is overly fond of it. But hey, it's your decision, I'll see you later." he said as he turned and headed out to his motor cycle and took off down the street.

He spent the next 5 hours looking for a job, until finally he applied at the grocery store from the previous night, they had an opening and let him start right away, he filled out his paperwork, got his uniform, and spent the rest of the day in training. He arrived back at Maison Izumo at around 11:00 that night. He stepped of his bike and headed up to the Inn, only to see his two Sekireis had fallen asleep on the front porch waiting for his return. He smiled and dropped his backpack and helmet inside the dining room and headed back outside, Uzume was wearing her pink and violet belly top and Capri jeans. Akitsu was wearing a kimono that was held together at the top with chains and showed quite a lot of cleavage. Tetsuya sighed tiredly, he grabbed Uzume in his arms with her head against his shoulder. He carried her upstairs, he passed Kagari and Miya on the stairway and shushed them so they wouldn't wake her, he carried her up to her room and laid her on her futon and tucked her in. Then he walked downstairs and did the same with Akitsu. The he headed to his room and went to sleep.

So for the next week or so, Tetsuya got to pretend he had a normal life, he'd wake up, go to work, and come home to spend time with his Sekireis and other housemates. On the days he didn't work, he spent the days with his Sekireis and on occasion Matsu would come and join them for a short while. So for a time, life was good for Tetsuya, until he woke up in his room surrounded by his Sekireis, they had a nasty habit of sneaking into bed with him, but he never scolded them, he didn't mind. But this morning was different, he woke up to see his laptop was on and displaying the face of Hiroto Minaka...

"Oh dammit, what do you want?" Tetsuya asked groggily, he had a bad feeling about this...


	5. Maison Izumo Gets Two More Tenants

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright I've received many complaints about Tetsuya's treatment of Kagari. I wish to clarify. Tetsuya was not genuinely mad at Kagari, he was just irritated., he'd had a long day and was hardly in the mood to be teased about his hair. When he said screw you too, he didn't mean anything by it, he thought it was a shot at his hair color so he tossed off a comeback in response. His barb at Kagari being gay was just to tease him for saying that Tetsuya looked like Miya. (If only he knew.) Also, just to anyone who didn't understand, Tetsuya currently has his own room, and Akitsu and Uzume stay in 203, Uzume's original room.(though they routinely sneak into Tetsuya's room)

Chapter 5- Maison Izumo Gets Two More Tenants

"What do you want?" Tetsuya asked to the man in white on his laptop monitor. He was groggy, half-naked and he had a lot of plans today, he had the day off of work, he was planning to spend the day with his Sekirei, he also had to go shopping for Miya later. The last thing on Earth that he needed was to speak to the man that would one day force his Sekireis to fight to the death. He turned to check that both Akitsu and Uzume were covered by blankets, he didn't want the president to see them when they weren't dressed.

"Hello Mr. Kaoru, how are you today?" asked the man on his laptop in a polite tone.

"A little worse for seeing you." Tetsuya said flatly. It did not escape his notice that Minaka was avoiding the question.

"Hah, excellent joke Mr. Kaoru." said Minaka with a laugh. This man was beginning to irritate Tetsuya.

"I wasn't joking. Now what do you want? I'm very busy today." he said disdainfully.

"Come now Tetsuya, can't we be civil like gentlemen?" asked Minaka, still using a polite tone, though Tetsuya could tell he was getting to him.

"Fine, what do you want to talk about Hiroto, since it seems like we are now on a first name basis." Tetsuya said with a sigh as he stood up. He headed to his duffel bag near the door and began to search for a shirt to wear. _I have to get a real dresser sometime soon, _thought Tetsuya as he pawed through his duffel bag.

"I wish to know how you winged a discarded number, since it should be impossible. Tell me, you must have had help. I wish to know who helped you." said Minaka from behind him.

"That 'discarded number' as you so politely put it, has a name you know. Her name is Akitsu." Tetsuya said as he looked back at his laptop where Minaka was still displayed on the screen.

"Well I hardly think it matters what her name is, what matters is how you winged her." said Minaka, this angered Tetsuya beyond words. This man toyed with the lives of Sekirei and he couldn't be bothered to even remember their names.

"Well it matters to me you arrogant prick, and if you wanna know how I winged her you will refer to her as Akitsu." Tetsuya said with venom in his voice. Just then, he saw the sheets that covered his Sekirei begin to stir. Uzume sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes, she was wearing her pink lace nightie, it was one of her favorite things to wear, though Tetsuya knew for a fact she had quite the collection of lingerie. Akitsu sat up slowly as well. He was glad to see she was wearing the baggy shirt she normally wore to sleep in, she had a nasty habit of stripping down to nothing after sneaking into his room with Uzume. Not that he minded, he just didn't want Minaka seeing his Sekirei naked.

"What's going on Tetsuya?" Uzume asked with a yawn.

"Hey girls, could you give us a minute?" Tetsuya asked, gesturing to his laptop where Minaka still sat on the screen, dressed in his usual white outfit. Uzume nodded,

"C'mon Akitsu, lets go get dressed." she said to his second Sekirei, Akitsu turned and when she saw the professor on the monitor a look of recognition flashed across her face, she nodded and headed with Uzume back to their room. Unbeknownst to Tetsuya, Minaka caught a glimpse of Uzume's back as she exited his room form the monitor he could see Uzume's Sekirei crest. Behind his glasses his eyes widened in shock, what had caused her Sekirei crest to change? This and a million other questions flashed through his brilliant, twisted mind. But they would have to wait for later.

"So what were you saying?" Tetsuya asked the man on the monitor.

"I was wondering how you winged the disc... how you winged Akitsu." Minaka said,making sure to correct himself this time.

"No different than how I winged Uzume, with a kiss. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?" Tetsuya said with a casual shrug. He had no idea why Minaka was bothering him with this and frankly, he didn't care. He just wanted to get on with his day.

"Well, this is puzzling news. Sit tight, we'll be in touch." Minaka began.

"Do you have to?" Tetsuya asked with a groan.

"Yes, I do. Now don't forget to wing plenty of sekirei (this isn't a typo, I didn't capitalize Sekirei in this instance to reflect Minaka's attitude of seeing Sekirei as pieces in a game) . It will help you win the game and winning the game is the only way you get to stay with them." Minaka said in the tone he usually said everything that regarded the Sekirei plan.

"Don't remind me." Tetsuya grumbled as his laptop went dark. He sighed and started to dress. After he was dressed he started to heard downstairs when he heard a crash from the front yard. He headed over to on of the hallway windows, opened it up and poked his head out to see the front lawn covered in icy spikes and Akitsu standing in the yard looking out of breath, staring intently at Miya who was holding a wooden katana. She was holding it in a defensive pose but seemed entirely fine otherwise.

"Everything alright?" he called down.

"Fine Tetsuya, I was just sparring with Akitsu." Miya called up in her normal voice. _Well that explains the ice spikes, _thought Tetsuya, remembering a few days after he had winged Akitsu, she had shown him that her Sekirei powers allowed her to manipulate and control ice.

Tetsuya had known that Miya had been sparring with Akitsu regularly to help her fight better but he hadn't ever been around to witness one of their training sessions. Uzume had said Miya was tough, but Tetsuya hadn't expected her to outclass Akitsu so radically. He watched the rest of the session from the upstairs window. Akitsu launched attack after attack at Miya and even at some points closed in with a blade of ice to engage Miya at close range. Though no matter what she did, Miya either, blocked, countered, or dodged every single one of her attacks. And Tetsuya had gotten in enough fights at school when he was young to see that Akitsu wasn't even challenging Miya, Miya was toying with her, if she ever went at Akitsu full strength, Akitsu would lose in an instant. He shuddered, for the first time since moving in here, he felt a measure of fear towards Miya. Tetsuya didn't know about her past, but it was obvious that she wasn't just an innkeeper, at some point in the past she'd had formal combat training. Tetsuya put it out of his mind for now it was his day off and he planned to enjoy it.

_Over at MBI headquarters..._

"Takami, I need you to run a background check on someone." Minaka said to his head of research.

"That's not my department Minaka, and you know it." Takami said angrily to her boss, for God's sake she was injured by that awful Sekirei #43, she shouldn't even be working today.

"Yes I know, but you're the only one I can trust with this." he said, turning away from his view of Shinto Teito at the edge of the roof.

"Fine, who is it." she said with a sigh.

"Tetsuya Kaoru, the Ashikabi of #7." he said to her.

"What about him?" she asked, sounding confused.

" He winged 2 Sekirei in under 48 hours of becoming an Ashikabi. One of them a discarded number, he's up to something, I just know it. I need to find out what." he said. Takami raised an eyebrow, it wasn't like Minaka to be so paranoid. This boy must have really gotten under his skin somehow. She smiled, she had to meet this boy and learn how he did it, that was a handy trick to have.

_Back at Maison Izumo, later that day..._

Tetsuya headed back up stairs, he had just finished dinner and decided he'd give free-running a try again. He had done it quite often before he had started to study for the second year of exams. He wanted to get back into it again, and tonight seemed like as good a time as any. He'd gotten his results in the mail from the entrance exams today, he'd failed again, so he needed to relieve some stress. He decided not to do prep school this year, it obviously wasn't helping. He'd just study on his own this year, that way he could save money, still work, and as a bonus it allowed him to spend more time with Akitsu and Uzume. He changed into a black tank top and track pants and a pair of gloves and tied his hair back with a ribbon that Miya had let him have headed back down the stairs. He passed Kagari as he was exiting the stairway, he was dressed in a suit and seemed to be pretty tired.

"Hey man, looking sharp where you coming from?" he asked his housemate.

"A client from the bar requested me all night tonight, but she had to leave and I'd already been paid for the night so I decided to head back home, there weren't many customers there tonight anyway." he said.

"Cool, did you kids have fun? And did you remember to be a gentleman?" he said, playfully teasing Kagari had become a favorite pastime of his since moving into Maison Izumo. Kagari didn't seem to mind, and in return liked to tease Tetsuya about his hair and what went on behind closed doors with Akitsu and Uzume. Not that anything did, Miya made sure of that. But Kagari still liked to tease him that Tetsuya managed to sneak in "dealings" when Miya was out. Tetsuya didn't mind, he liked Kagari, the dude was cool and pretty nice. If Tetsuya had a problem with Kagari teasing him, he would've asked politely for him to stop ONCE before he slugged the dude. But it hadn't come to that.

"You should take your own advice." Kagari said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I do. Though I'm sure my Sekirei would enjoy it if I were a tad more perverted. Though, I doubt Miya would like that." he said with a smile. Not that Miya's "hannya mask" scared him as much as her skill with a sword did, but he was confident that Miya didn't wanna draw negative attention to her house with a murder investigation, so he was sure the worse she'd do was kick him out if he tried anything.

"So are you heading to the gym, I'm guessing." asked Kagari.

"Nah, I'm gonna go free running, it's an old hobby of mine." Tetsuya replied.

"Cool, have fun." said Kagari as he headed down the hall to his room. He passed through the living room to see Miya and Akitsu sitting down to have tea. Akitsu looked up when he entered,

"Where are you going?" asked Akitsu in her usual withdrawn tone.

"I'm heading free running. Hey you're a Sekirei, you're stronger than a normal human. You wanna come?" he said to her.

"Um, sure." she said after a moment's hesitation.

"Alright, let's go. Hey where's Uzume though?" he asked, after noting he had not seen his first Sekirei in a while.

"She's in the bath right now. I'll let her know where you've gone after she gets out" Miya said.

"Thanks Miya, I should be back within an hour." he said as he headed outside.

"Alright Akitsu, follow my lead, I'd say try to keep up, but you're more than likely to last longer than I am during this." he said ,he turned and saw an alley on the side of the the street, there was a dumpster at the back that led to a low wall and onto another alley that lead onto a street with a parking garage. And parking garages were great to free-run in. Tetsuya took off at a run toward the dumpster, when he neared it he jumped and pushed off as hard as he could with the leg that had made contact with the dumpster then he vaulted over the wall and landed in the alley behind it and rolled to prevent him damaging his legs. Akitsu followed him landing daintily in the alley beside him. This was gonna be interesting...

Akitsu

She watched as Tetsuya took off down an alley at an impressive speed and vaulted over the wall at the back of the alley, she took off after him and easily jumped over the wall and landed beside him. As she landed she saw him stand back up and take off across the street. He jumped on top of a dumpster that sat against the parking garage and run 3 steps up the wall where he leaped off towards the second story of the garage, she jumped clear across the street. She was so sure that he wouldn't make it, but somehow her Ashikabi managed to swing his body and grab the edge of the wall and pull himself up.

She leaped up and landed in the parking garage next to him. He looked at her and asked,

"Are you okay Akitsu, you look like you just saw a ghost?" her Ashikabi asked, slightly out of breath.

"Sorry, you scared me, when you leaped up here I thought for sure you wouldn't make it."

"Akitsu don't worry, I've done this many times before, I know my limits." he said to her. She nodded, she wasn't sure how safe this was, but if there was anyone she trusted in the world, it was Tetsuya. Even so, she was scared that he would hurt himself, and if he hurt himself on her watch she'd never forgive herself. As a Sekirei, it was her duty to protect her Ashikabi for harm, but she couldn't protect Tetsuya from his own mistake. So over the next 46 minutes Tetsuya proceeded to give Akitsu a series of small heart attacks. On the walk home, Tetsuya looked at Akitsu, they were both out of breath, Tetsuya more so than Akitsu, he was only human after all. He turned to her and said,

"Hey are you okay, you looked stressed the entire run. Did I do something to upset you?" he asked sounding concerned.

"No... It's just...Well there were many times during the run, when I thought you were going to hurt yourself, and the thought of you being hurt scared me almost as much as being alone again did." she said, looking down at the ground.

"Oh Buddha, Akitsu I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. Next time, I'll go on my own. I don't wanna drag you along if you're gonna worry the whole time." he said worriedly. He felt so bad, he didn't wanna worry Akitsu. The woman was working her very nice butt off sparring with Miya everyday in order to protect him better, and he had just basically worried her half to death and hadn't noticed till it was over. Words could not describe how stupid he felt at that moment.

"No, it's alright, you proved during the run that you are more than capable of handling yourself. I was just worried you would hurt yourself in the beginning. I would very much like to continue accompanying on your runs from now on. That is... if you'll let me.." she said, her voice trailing off at the end.

"Of course, but you'll probably need different clothes for you to exercise in though, to avoid damaging your nice outfit." he said as they rounded the corner onto the street Maison Izumo occupied. He looked up at the clouds it had looked like rain earlier, but now the clouds looked like they had been ripped apart. They walked into the living room to see Uzume, Miya and Kagari sitting down to eat with a fair-skinned young woman of average height and curvy body. She sported a very developed and curvaceous body with a slim waist and flared hips. She had brown eyes and brown hair. Her hair was hime-styled; it had short bangs, chin-length strands surrounded her head and framed her face, a single antenna-like strands that hung just above her head, and hip-length hair at the nape of her neck. She was wearing a yukata that Tetsuya had seen Miya wearing around the house. Sitting next to her wearing a green track suit was a young man of above average-height he was slim with messy black hair, and gray eyes. Tetsuya's eyes widened in shock as he recognized Minato Sahashi from his prep school classes.

"H-hey Minato, what are you doing here, man?" Tetsuya sputtered. He looked over the girl sitting next to Minato. Something told Tetsuya she was a Sekirei.

"Tetsuya, do you live here?" Minato asked, looking just a surprised as Tetsuya felt.

"Do you two know each other?" Uzume chimed in, Tetsuya saw she was wearing one of her lingerie nighties.

"Yea we went to prep school together, but why are you here?" Tetsuya asked.

"Well it's hard to explain..." Minato said rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say you're now part of the Sekirei plan; and that business with the clouds outside, is probably a result of the Sekirei sitting next to you. Hi., we haven't been properly introduced, Tetsuya Kaoru, nice to meet you. I'm also guessing since you're here your whoever runs your living situation kicked you out for bringing a woman home. How close am I?" Tetsuya said quickly and was breathing heavily at the end.

"My, my, that was quite a speech. You should be more respectful of others personal affairs" Miya said, her hannya mask materializing behind her as she said this. Everyone at the table's eyes widened and their faces drained of color at the sight of Miya's mask. Tetsuya simply raised an eyebrow.

"You're right Miya. I'm sorry Minato, forget I said anything" said Tetsuya to Minato apologetically.

"No, no, you're right on the money, how did you know?" Minato said with a nervous chuckle.

"Because that beautiful girl in the revealing nightie next to Miya is my first Sekirei, Uzume. The other beautiful woman behind me, is Akitsu, my second Sekirei. And the beautiful lady next to Uzume is my landlady Miya. Also that's more or less what happened to me." he said gesturing to each woman in turn, he had only included Miya so that she'd be more lenient with any punishment for prying into Minato's affairs. He went over and sat down next to Kagari at the table...

_Meanwhile, back at MBI corporate headquarters..._

Takami walked into Minaka's office, she was holding a folder containing the results of the background check on Tetsuya Kaoru. It was a pretty dull read, save one particularly interesting document. The results of a DNA test ran 2 years ago when Tetsuya had given blood. She approached Minaka's desk, with the president sitting comfortably behind it in his usual attire.

"What have you got there Takami?" Minaka asked his head of research.

"Minaka, I've got the results of the background check you asked for on Tetsuya Kaoru. It's a pretty typical read. The boy was adopted by Seo Kaoru 19 years ago, when he was supposedly left on Mr. Kaoru's doorstep. He went to school inside the city, scoring above average marks all the way. He graduated 22nd out of a class of 350. Which is odd, considering this." she said, taking a piece of paper out of the folder and sliding it across the table to Minaka. Minaka picked it up in one gloved hand and scanned the paper. His eyes widened in surprise behind his glasses.

"Are you sure this is accurate?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes, it is. We double checked the results against the blood sample on file at the blood bank. Thankfully, it's owned by a subsidiary of MBI, that helped us get a hold of it quickly." she said curtly.

"Then that means that this boy is-" Minaka began to say slowly.

"The first recorded case of a human-Sekirei hybrid in centuries." Takami said, finishing the president's sentence for him.

"And his parentage, are we sure about it?" he asked. Takami nodded,

"Yes, this boy is undoubtedly the son of Number 01 and Takehito Asama. Though, I doubt he knows it. It would most certainly explain the modified Sekirei crest you saw on Uzume earlier. Especially if Takehito adjusted him at birth, remember he had that idea of how to let Ashikabi neutralize the powers of hostile Sekirei through skin contact. As well as that one on how to remove the bond between an Ashikabi and a forcefully winged Sekirei." Takami said in a serious tone.

"This could prove troublesome to the game. This boy has the potential to unbalance my life's work. I must find a way to control him... Say Takami, are we still looking for a person to run our new Disciplinary Squad?" he asked slyly, as a thought had just occurred to him on how he could solve both of those problems at once.

"I believe so sir." she said, not following why that mattered right now.

"Have HR draw up some information on the position and send it to Maison Izumo along with these things." Minaka said as he scribbled a list of items on a piece of paper and handed it to Takami.

"Why?" Takami asked after reading the list, the items on it looked like they were for a child except for a few things.

"Don't question the Game Master Takami. Just do as you're told. Off with you now." Minaka said with a wave as he turned around to look out the panoramic window that sat behind his desk. Takami stomped off angrily, she hated the professor sometimes, even if he was the father of her children.

_Back at Maison Izumo..._

Tetsuya stepped out of the bath and dressed in his newly clean pajamas and headed up to his room. It was 11 PM and he was the last one up. As he passed Uzume's and Akitsu's room, he peered inside to see the two little birds sleeping peacefully. He smiled, they were so cute when they slept. He withdrew his head before he started to feel like a creep. He sighed contentedly, he didn't deserve it, but he was glad they loved him. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost either of them. He went to his room and laid down on the futon and pulled the covers up to his chin.

Over the next few days he helped Minato move in and get settled. The boy found a job at a construction site, despite Tetsuya's assurance that he could get a job with Tetsuya at the store. There was a small incident the first day Minato moved in where Musubi tried to engage Uzume in combat only to have Akitsu to step in and tell her that if she attempted to fight Uzume she would have to fight her as well. At which point Miya arrived and "explained" that there was no violence allowed at the Inn. This, along with her hannya mask was more than enough to frighten all the Sekirei into submission. After that, Uzume also began to train with Akitsu against Miya. Tetsuya heard that Musubi also started to train with them against Miya. Tetsuya offered to pay Miya extra rent in exchange for training his Sekirei, but she insisted that she didn't mind and was happy to do it for free. Everything was hunky-dory for a while, until one day when Uzume and Tetsuya were on their way to the store for Miya.

Tetsuya was walking next to Uzume on the sidewalk to the store.(Akitsu was at Izumo Inn helping Miya with the laundry) When suddenly, Tetsuya was struck from behind and collapsed to the ground. He got up to see a woman sprawled on the sidewalk next to him, she had dark green hair and for some odd reason, was carrying a staff. She was rubbing the back of her head and had a pained look on her face.

"Are you okay, miss?" he asked as Uzume helped him to his feet.

"You've gotta help me. They're trying to take me back to their master so he can wing me. I know you're an Ashikabi who saves Sekirei from being forcibly winged" she said as she looked up at him.

"Wait how do you know that? And how do you know who I am?" Tetsuya asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Please you've got to help me." she said pleadingly. Tetsuya opened his mouth to ask how she had heard of him, when suddenly,

"Oh no, there they are!" she said, pointing behind Tetsuya to to the top of the building behind him. He turned to see a girl with purple in a dress with several bladed discs floating around her, along with a girl in a black and yellow jumpsuit with orange hair.

"You're coming with us #16. Our Master wishes to add you to his collection." said the one with purple hair.

"I'm afraid not, get behind me you two." Uzume said to Tetsuya as she whipped off her clothes to reveal her battle outfit underneath. She grimaced, she was hoping she'd more time to train before her first battle...

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Alrighty guys it looks like thing are getting interesting. How much would it suck if Uzume died this early in the story? Hah, just kidding. OR MAYBE NOT! Also my next update may take longer. I'm thinking of starting a Rosario+Vampire story, so I might be working on that, though I'll probably get a little more done on this before I start on that.


	6. Why Does Everyone Know But Me?

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of its characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, sorry for the delay. I was working on my Rosario+Vampire/Darksiders crossover story Death Walks Again. I will continue working on this primarily though, so any of my readers that read Death Walks Again, I will not update that story as often as I do this one. Alright for any of you still curious as to the results of the poll regarding the Twins, the results are up on my profile if you wish to view them. Needless to say, it would appear that Tetsuya will wing the twins. Also in response to any questions about why Toyotama was running from the fight. Remember, that until they are winged, Sekireis can't fight at anywhere near their full strength. That's why Musubi ran from the Twins in the series, though shortly afterward she attempted to engage Uzume without any warning. By the way, sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors, I submit these chapters hot off the press.

Chapter 6-Why Does Everyone Know But Me?

Tetsuya helped the girl that had fallen on top of him off the sidewalk. He turned around to see Uzume in her battle outfit, facing the two Sekirei that had been chasing the girl that had landed on Tetsuya. She was a tall woman with long dark green hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue and white tight belly-top, revealing quite some cleavage, which displayed the Sekirei Crest on her left breast. Dark long gloves, stockings held by a garter over her bloomers and thigh length boots complemented her appearance.

"You ladies wouldn't happen to work for Hayato Mikagami of the South, would you?" Tetsuya asked with a sigh.

"No we don't, we serve Higa Izumi of the East." said the one that wielded the bladed discs.

" I have no idea who that is." said Tetsuya.

"He is the one who will win the Sekirei plan, and claim the grand prize at the end." said the orange-haired one in a melancholic tone.

"That's what they all think." he said as he reached surreptitiously in to his pocket and tried his best to send a text message to Matsu without looking at his phone. He told her to send Akitsu to them. He didn't provide a location because he knew Matsu could pinpoint where they were on her computer in seconds.

"Uzume, you're gonna have to buy us some time so Akitsu can get here to back you up. So when you fight them don't take any unnecessary risks, I don't wanna lose you because you took an unnecessary risk. I'd prefer not to lose you at all," he said quietly to Uzume so that the other two Sekirei couldn't hear him. She nodded wordlessly. Tetsuya had watched Uzume train a few times and had determined that the veil she used to fight was actually quite heavy, making it ideal for ranged attacks.

"Enough talking, hand over #16 and we'll be on our way." said the orange-haired Sekirei from atop the building she was on. In response to this, the Sekirei behind him hugged him tightly to her.

"Please don't let them take me." she said in a pleading tone.

"She has a name, you know, and I'm sorry but I won't hand her over to you if she doesn't wanna go." Tetsuya said in a hard tone. What was it with competitors in the Sekirei Plan and referring to Sekireis as if they were only items? He knew for a fact that each Sekirei was unique. Each was beautiful, interesting, and amazing in their own way. He knew that from experience.

"Fine, have it your way. Take this!" she said as she launched two of her bladed disks at Tetsuya, only to have them deflected by Uzume's veil.

"I'm your opponent, not him. I'm Sekirei #10, Uzume." she called up.

"I'm #101, Oriha." said the one with the disks.

"I'm #86, Katsuragi." said the other as he leaped forward and aimed a kick at Uzume.

Uzume jumped towards the girl and threw one end of her veil towards her. It caught her in the stomach and sent her whirling through the air. She landed on the ground in a wide stance. The other girl launched three of her disks at Uzume while she was still in the air. Uzume spun around in the air an used her veil as a shield to deflect the disks. The disks hit the spinning cloth and bounced off in another direction. And landed on top of a building with her back to Katsuragi. Katsuragi had recovered from Uzume's first attack and leaped towards Uzume, this time aiming a punch at her back. As she neared Uzume, Uzume spun around and dodged her attack and wrapped one end of her veil around the girl's midsection and used it to throw her into the side of the building that Oriha stood on. Katsuragi hit the side of the building hard, knocking the wind out of her. Tetsuya looked and saw 3 of Oriha's disks headed toward Uzume from behind,it was obvious that Uzume didn't know they were headed toward her.

"LOOK OUT UZUME!" Tetsuya shouted. Uzume turned and saw the disks headed her, she barely got out of their way in time, but not before one of the disks managed to tear the veil covering her chest though. She watched as they came around for a second attack. Uzume had moved to rashly when she'd dodged them the first time. There was no way she'd be able to avoid them all this time...

Though before the discs could hit Uzume, they were stuck on the sides by something small and fast and knocked away from her. Uzume turned to see Akitsu standing on the building next to the one Oriha occupied. She stood there in her normal attire with several small shards of ice floating around her. Katsuragi got up off the ground where she had fallen.

"C'mon Oriha, we're outmatched here. Let's retreat for now." she said with a pained expression on her face while she held her side.

"You're right. Let's go." Oriha said as she leaped backwards and started jumping between buildings to the east, Katsuragi following right behind her. Tetsuya watched as both his Sekirei landed daintily on the ground. As they jogged up to him he rushed forward and hugged them both tightly against him.

"I have never been as glad to see anyone as I am to see both of you okay, right now." he said in a choked voice.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to worry you." Akitsu said quietly. She felt awkward, she did not know how to respond to this situation. She loved Tetsuya, but she had never seen this side of her Ashikabi. He had always been so strong and confident. Though now it looked like he was about to cry.

"Yea come on, we're okay and that's all that matters." Uzume said as she patted her Ashikabi on the back. Tetsuya sniffed,

"Yeah I know, but I don't know, I guess until now it never hit me how dangerous these fights would be. Uzume, when those disks came back around and were about to hit you, I couldn't move I was so scared. And speaking of which, here you go." he said as he wiped his eyes and handed Uzume's clothes back to her, her breasts had been exposed after the disks had torn her outfit.

"Heh thanks, wouldn't want Miya to see me like this." Uzume said with a laugh.

"Um, excuse me?" said a voice from behind Tetsuya, he turned to see the girl with the dark green hair standing there, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'd totally forgotten you were still there. What's your name?" he said rubbing his head.

"I'm Sekirei #16, Toyotama, and if it's possible, I'd like to be your Sekirei. You defended me without any thought for your safety and you obviously love your Sekireis much more than any Ashikabi who uses them as only tools to help him win a game; and although I like to fight, I think I'd be much happier if I had someone to fight for. I'd like to fight for you." she said as she held her red staff behind her and looked down at the ground awkwardly.

Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily... Oh no, thought Tetsuya. He'd seen this twice before. This girl was reacting to him. He sighed, he wasn't sure what he was gonna do. His room was the only one that had room for another tenant without infringing on the privacy of another tenant. But he couldn't just pick which of his Sekirei would sleep with him and which would have to house a guest. He couldn't deal with this right now.

"Alright Akitsu, take Toyotama to Maison Izumo while we figure out what to do with her." he said to his Sekirei. Akitsu nodded and headed over to Toyotama and gestured for her to follow her. Toyotama started to follow Akitsu but then motioned for her to stop. Tetsuya watched as she headed back towards him.

"Is there something you- mph!" Tetsuya began to ask but before he could finish Toyotama pulled him in close, Tetsuya noted in his alarmed state that she was very strong. Toyotama kissed him full on the mouth. Tetsuya watched as bright red wings appeared from Toyotama's back. She pulled away from him, ignoring the shocked but slightly excited look on Uzume's face.

"You're a good kisser you know that? Glad to know that my new Ashikabi has some experience under his belt." she said with a wink as she started following Akitsu again. Akitsu proceeded to lead Toyotama, who was apparently Tetsuya's newest Sekirei, back to Maison Izumo.

Tetsuya sat there, dumbstruck for what seemed like an eternity. Uzume snapped her fingers in front of her apparently comatose Ashikabi.

"You okay Tetsuya?" she asked slightly worriedly.

"I feel violated." he said, sounding shocked. Uzume giggled and put her arm around her Ashikabi's waist.

"C'mon, let's get to shopping, you stud. Looks like you've got another mouth to feed." she said as they turned and headed to the store.

They returned to Maison Izumo an hour later, Tetsuya still fairly stunned. And that was saying something, Tetsuya almost never lost his cool. It had only happened twice before in his life. When Uncle Seo had given him his Kawaski for his 16th birthday and one other time... but more on that later.

He walked up to Maison Izumo to see Toyotama and Musubi sparring in the yard. Tetsuya noted that Toyotama seemed to be enjoying the fight as much as Musubi was, if not more so. He turned to see Miya standing in the door to the living room. She did not look happy. I forgot that I'm going to have to explain why she has yet another female tenant, Tetsuya thought.

"Hello Tetsuya, glad to see you're back." she said as she gave him her famous hannya mask stare.

"Uh oh, looks like you're in trouble." said Uzume teasingly. Tetsuya sighed,

"Alright Miya look before we do anything rash, I didn't mean to wing her, and if you want me to, I'll be more than happy to move out." Tetsuya said, trying to make sure his head was not separated from his shoulders before he could explain the situation.

"Fufufu, I'm not mad about that. I'm upset about this." she said as she stepped to the side to reveal the biggest pile of of boxes from MBI that Tetsuya had seen.

"Toyotama, what did you do?" Tetsuya called back to his newest Sekirei.

"Don't look at me, that isn't my stuff. My stuff's on its way." she called from the front yard.

"Hold on Miya, I'll take care of this." said Tetsuya as he entered the living room.

So, over the next half hour and with the help of his Sekireis he managed to get the 9 boxes, some of them quite large, that MBI had sent, up to his room. Inside them were, a 60-inch plasma screen TV, a high-end laptop that was faster than most supercomputers(AN: probably containing more than a few components of alien technology.), a cell phone that wasn't due to be on the market for 3 years, one had a top of the line video game console in it, one box contained contracts and paperwork on a job that paid better had better benefits than he would make anywhere else, one box contained only a set of keys, a membership to a prestigious health club, and for some reason the last one contained various skin and hair care products. As well as a small cube that had no definable purpose. After they had unpacked all this and found place for it in Tetsuya's room. Tetsuya fell face-first into his futon.

"Enjoying your new toys?" asked a voice from beside him. Tetsuya rolled over to see a holographic Hiroto Minaka leering over him.

"Ah! What the hell are you doing-... that's what the cube's for isn't it?" exclaimed Tetsuya.

"Indeed it is." said Minaka as Tetsuya sat up.

"So what's all this for then?" Tetsuya said nodding toward the pile of things he had unpacked from the boxes.

"They're just a taste of what you could have. If you accept what I'm about to offer you. By the way have you found what the keys go to?" Minaka said to the boy on the futon.

"No, what are they for?" asked Tetsuya plainly.

"Did you notice the other motorcycle parked outside the Inn?" asked Minaka.

"Yeeeeeeaaah..." said Tetsuya, intrigued. It had been a glossy black Suzuki Hayabusa with red trim. Thee second fastest bike in the world. Tetsuya had always wanted one. But he'd never made enough money to afford one, though he would've never complained about the motorcycle Seo had given him. He knew that Seo had skimped, scraped, and saved for months to buy Tetsuya that bike. He suddenly realized that he missed his uncle very much...

"Are you alright Mr. Kaoru?" the holographic Minaka asked the boy who'd been completely motionless for almost thirty seconds.

"Yeah, what about the motorcycle though?" asked Tetsuya as his thoughts returned to here and now.

"It's yours. Consider it a token of goodwill." said Minaka.

"Wow thanks, but why?" Tetsuya said gratefully.

"I've come to offer you a job. You need a career, I'm guessing preferably one that lets you spend time with your three Sekirei. Congrats on the new one by the way, Toyotama's a very good fighter. And I need a new head for MBI's Disciplinary Squad. As you can see from the documents I sent you, the position pays extremely well. Do you see where I'm going with this?" said Minaka, sounding like he was trying to sell Tetsuya a used car.

"Yeah, but why me?" asked Tetsuya suspiciously, he didn't trust Minaka. The dude was...shifty.

"Don't question your good fortune Mr. Kaoru. Now I have to head to Kamikura Island for a week, let's have dinner when I return and we can discuss your future then." the hologram said as it disappeared.

Tetsuya headed to the hall way to see Toyotama heading down the hallway towards Minato's room with Musubi.

"Hey you, in the revealing belly top. I need to speak with you." he called down the hallway to her. Toyotama turned and said something to Musubi to which Musubi nodded politely and entered the room she shared with Minato.

"What's up Tetsuya?" she asked as she jogged down the hallway to his room.

"I have a few questions for you." he said

"Sure, shoot." she said brightly.

"First things first, how did you know who I was?" Tetsuya asked, he had no idea how she'd found out. He'd never met another Ashikabi or Sekirei, other than Musubi and Minato, and he doubted they'd told anyone, considering neither of them knew the details of his meeting either of his Sekireis.

"Homura told me." said Toyotama simply, as if it was common knowledge.

"Who?" said Tetsuya sounding puzzled.

"He's the Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei. He told me how you saved Akitsu and Uzume." said Toyotama.

"So did you choose me as your Ashikabi just because of my reputation?" he asked, sounding slightly offended.

"No, that had nothing to do with it. I knew you lived in the North so when those two were chasing me I headed here, hoping you'd find and save me. I know it's stupid, but a couple of days ago, I had a dream that you would save me." she said, her face turning crimson. It was true, she hoped Tetsuya believed her, she'd seen him in a dream, the rest of which was too embarrassing to remember...(AN: Yes it's dirty.)

"I've heard stranger tales." said Tetsuya, remembering the dream that had led him to Akitsu."But why did you kiss me so suddenly, I felt kinda... violated after it." he said as he awkwardly shifted his weight and rubbed his neck.

"Aww, I'm sorry. How about I make it up to you?" she said seductively as she walked over to Tetsuya and put her hands on his chest. He didn't like where this was going.

"Has Miya told you the house rules yet?" he asked. Her advances seemed to indicate that Miya hadn't had a chance to tell her yet.

"Yeah, she told me. But come on, what she doesn't know won't hurt her." Toyotama said as she slipped her hands under Tetsuya's shirt when suddenly,

"Fufufu my,my,my, what have we here?" said a voice from beside Toyotama. Toyotama's face drained of color as the hannya mask that so often followed Miya's visits appeared next to her. Tetsuya sighed exasperatedly, he'd known this was gonna happen.

"Hey Miya, how's it going?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"I think those who can afford to have illicit relations can afford not to eat tonight." said Miya with a giggle. Toyotama opened her mouth to speak when Tetsuya cut her off, saying

"That sounds fair, it's your hour house and we broke your rules." he said, which received a shocked look from Toyotama as Miya headed back down the hall. Before she could say anything Tetsuya said to her,

"Just be glad the sword didn't come out. She is scary good with that thing, and I think your rounding 1st base is enough for one day." said Tetsuya as he removed Toyotama's hands from under his shirt. He headed down the hall leaving Toyotama standing there bewildered. That was the first of many times that Toyotama would receive the "hannya mask" stare from Miya...

Miya

She was just turning to head down the stairs when Matsu poked her head out from behind the secret door that hid her room.

"Hey Miya, did you talk to Tetsuya about heading the Disciplinary Squad?" Matsu asked

"What?!" Miya exclaimed as she whirled around to face Sekirei #02.

"Yea, Minaka called him earlier to offer him the job. Didn't you hear?" Matsu asked with raised eyebrows.

"No, I didn't, but thank you for letting me know Matsu." she said as she hurried downstairs.

Tetsuya

Tetsuya was lying down on the roof, Akitsu's head was on his chest. He had one arm around her waist. She had come up to visit him after he had gone up there to think on whether or not he was going to accept Minaka's job offer. He hated Minaka and all the he did and stood for, but after the Sekirei plan he was going to need a way to take care of his Sekireis and Minaka was offering a way to do just that.

"May I offer my opinion on your current problem?" Akitsu asked quietly,

"Of course, I'd be glad to hear it." said Tetsuya. It occurred to him that he hadn't asked any of his Sekirie. This wasn't just his problem.

"I hope you don't go to work for MBI, they threw me away and when you cease to be useful they will do the same to you. Though you are my Ashikabi and I will follow you anywhere. Even back to MBI..." she said. She's right, thought Tetsuya. Minaka was going to use him. Though still, it didn't mean he couldn't use Minaka...

"Thanks Akitsu, why don't you head to bed. I'll be right in, I'll leave the door unlocked so you and Uzume can sneak in tonight. Sound good?" he said as Akitsu sat up and looked at him. In response to his comment, Akitsu blushed and gave him a small smile and nodded. _Wow, she's so cute when she smiles, _thought Tetsuya. She kissed him gently on the lips,

"Good night Tetsuya, I love you." she said.

"I love you too Akitsu." he said as she turned and jumped from the roof down to the ground and headed inside.

Tetsuya spent another half hour on the roof, before he saw Miya come outside.

"Are you alright Tetsuya?" she called up. He sat up and headed to the edge of the roof and dropped to the ground with a thud.

"Yeah Miya, sorry I've just got a lot on my mind." he said apologetically.

"The job offer from MBI?" she asked sweetly.

"Yep." he said tiredly, he'd long ago given up on finding out how Miya knew so much about her tenants lives.

Miya

She looked at her son, he looked tired and stretched. It was obvious he was grappling with a decision...

"How much did your uncle tell you about your parents?" she asked him.

"Not much, why?" he said as he turned to look at her, looking puzzled at their sudden change in topic.

If he was going to participate in the Sekirei Plan he needed to know the facts. All of them. It looked like the day she had been dreading the last two weeks arrived...

"Come inside, I have something I have to tell you. It's about you parents." she said as she headed inside the Inn.

"What do you know about my parent's?" asked Tetsuya as he followed her in.

"More than you know..." said Miya as she closed the door behind him.

End of Chapter 6

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, it looks like one of Tetsuya's abilities as an Ashikabi is to call Sekirei to him through **their** dreams. Who do you guys think should be Tetsuya's next Sekirei should be? I particularly like the idea of Namiji or the Twins. There is a new poll on my profile where you can vote on which Sekireis you think Tetsuya should wing. **SPOILER ALERT!**

Yashima will probably make an appearance next chapter, though I doubt she will ever be Tetsuya's Sekirei. Also Kusano will make an appearance. What do you guys think of Yukari winging Homura?

**SPOILERS OVER!**


	7. Tetsuya's Journey Part 1

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright, I'd like to start off by saying that though it's only been up a short while, the poll for which Sekireis you think Tetsuya should wing ha already seen a lot of action. I did not expect Karasuba and Benitsubasa to be so popular, though I was sure I was gonna use one of them for the story anyways. I don't think I'll use Natsuo at all in this story, I've just never liked him as a character, he made no sense to me. I've also decided to emphasize on how Tetsuya is half-Sekirei. Not only that, but his mother is #01, a "pillar" Sekirei. One who is vastly more powerful than any other seen to date. Meaning that, with proper training, he could probably go toe-to-toe with Karasuba.

Chapter 7- Tetsuya's Journey Part 1

Uzume landed daintily in the front yard of Maison Izumo followed shortly by Toyotama.

"Anything?" asked Seo Kaoru from the front door. Uzume and Toyotama shook their heads sadly.

"Ugh, Tetsuya's been gone for almost a week now. Where could he be?" Seo asked in an exasperated tone. Tetsuya had disappeared almost a week ago, shortly after Miya had called him inside to tell him what she knew about his parents. Miya had called Seo over to the Inn the day after.

"You know you could help look for him too, Akitsu." Toyotama said angrily to Tetsuya's second Sekirei, who was sitting on the front porch in her usual white outfit.

"Hey, lay off her. I'm sure she's more worried about him than either of us." said Uzume defensively to her.

"I'm not worried about Tetsuya, when I last saw him, it was obvious he needed to think. I don't know why he left, but I trust him to return when he's ready." said Akitsu quietly.

"But what if he's hurt?" asked Toyotama angrily.

"If he was hurt, you would know." said Miya as she came out to the front yard to see her other 3 tenants as well as her husband's old friend. They had been talking regularly for the past three weeks. But they had only seen each other for the first time in almost two decades, 6 days ago when Miya had called him after her (now aware of her relationship to him) son had grabbed his coat and wallet gotten on the motorcycle that MBI had given him, and taken off for parts unknown. She looked terrible, she looked like she hadn't slept in days, and her usual warm demeanor had been replaced by an aura of melancholy. It wasn't immediately obvious, but her long time tenants could tell right away that something was bothering her. Even Toyotama, Akitsu, Musubi, and Minato could tell something was off about her. Seo could swear that even the newest tenant, Sekirei #108 Kusano, could tell something was up.

Kusano had taken up residence in Miya's room since Minato had winged her the day after Tetsuya disappeared. The general aura around was one of tense apprehension, many of the residents were worried about Tetsuya. The boy had made many friends during his stay there. Unbeknownst to all but Miya, even Sekirei #06 Homura was out looking for the boy...

Homura/Kagari

Kagari raced across the rooftops, looking for Tetsuya like he had been for the last few days. The boy was probably his best friend after Takami and Miya. He didn't know why he left, but he needed to find the boy. He was probably the closest thing to a guardian Ashikabi there was and he had made Homura's job considerably easier. People were afraid to hunt unwinged Sekirei or forcibly wing them in the North, thanks to the boy. His legacy as the Ashikabi who had winged a broken number, especially one who was scrapped due to her overwhelming power had earned him quite the reputation, whether he knew it or not.

Homura was distracted from his thoughts by the sight of a black,white, and purple blur racing by below him between buildings. Whoever it was, they were fast. Almost as fast as him, and he was one of the fastest Sekirei of them all. He followed the person for a while before deciding to confront them he circled around in front of the person. The person skidded to a stop.

"Hey Kagari. 'Sup how's it going?" asked Tetsuya breathlessly. Tetsuya was dressed in a white tank top, and black track pants. Kagari stood there, dumbfounded for almost a minute. Tetsuya cocked his head to the side,

"You okay dude?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Where have you been?! How were you managing that sort of speed? You were as fast and strong as a Sekirei from what I saw. What happened to you? Why did you leave?" Kagari asked at a rapid fire pace.

"Whoa man, slow your roll. One Q at a time." Tetsuya said calmly as he approached his friend.

"What happened, man?" asked Kagari incredulously.

"Ah, that's quite a story. But one for another time." said Tetsuya as he wiped sweat from his brow. He patted his friend on the back.

"I'll see you around man." he said as he moved to start running again. Homura ignited a fireball in his hand,

"Sorry, I can't let you leave just yet. I promised Miya I'd bring you back. Your Sekireis need you." he said as he held the fireball up.

"Nice try, Homura. Yeah, Takami Sahashi told me about you. She called me after I left the Inn, and after swearing me to secrecy that I wouldn't tell her son about her work, we met for coffee and she told me all about my parents. But I need to figure things out for myself first. Give the girls my love." he said as he laid his hand on Kagari's arm. Homura watched as his fireball disappeared. He tried his best to re-ingnite it, to no avail. Tetsuya turned around and ran over to the edge of the building they sat on and leaped off the edge to the next building.. Kagari watched on as Tetsuya soon vanished from sight.

_Many hours later..._

Tetsuya sat on the edge of the bed in the motel room he had rented. He sighed, he couldn't believe Miya was his mom... Why hadn't she told him before... Why hadn't she come looking for him after Takehito, his father had died... All these questions and many more buzzed around Tetsuya's head. The phone MBI had given him started to vibrate on the bedside table. He picked it up and checked the text message he'd just received. It said that Minaka would send a car to pick him up in a few hours and to be ready when it did. He sighed and laid down on the bed and decided to take a short nap. Before he went to sleep he checked the picture on the background of the phone of him and his 3 Sekireis. He missed the girls but he needed time to think things over on his own. His last thought before dozing off was of that day he discovered just how different he was from other Ashikabi.

_A few days ago..._

Tetsuya went to the gym that day and spent until two in the afternoon working out. Afterward on his way to his bike he heard from behind him call out,

"Nice hair, asswipe." said the voice. He turned to see Junichi Tanagawa, a bully from his high school who loved to tease him about his hair. Next to him stood a girl with light brown hair with blue ribbons woven in and grey eyes. She wore a thigh length, tight white gown and black stockings as well as black long gloves. She also carried a massive hammer. Tetsuya guessed she was his Sekirei. What a shame, he thought. He'd seen the way Junichi treated women, the man was a brute.

"Hello Junichi, I see time hasn't granted you any manners." he said as he put on his jacket and moved to get on his bike.

"Where you going? You made some dude named Higa very mad, and he placed a very high bounty on your head and I'm here to collect." he said confidently. Tetsuya sighed.

"Whatever man, I'll see you around. Though, I hope I don't." he said as he turned to mount his bike.

"What are you waiting for, you stupid bitch? Get him!" Junichi said as he kicked the girl next to him. Fury coursed through Tetsuya's veins as he saw Junichi hit the girl.. He turned and ran toward Junichi as fast as he could, and swung at Junichi's face, only for the girl next to him to block the blow with her hammer.

"I'm number 84, Yashima, and I must protect my Ashikabi. Prepare to die, I'm sorry" she said in a hard tone. She swung the massive hammer at Tetsuya and he just narrowly voided having his skull crushed. This was bad, he thought. He had no chance against a Sekirei. Junichi walked up to the girl,

"Come here bitch, let's finish this." Junichi said as he pulled the girl close and kissed her roughly on the mouth. Tetsuya saw her wings appear as she said,

"The hammer of my pledge. Enemy of my Ashikabi, Shatter! GRAVITY HAMMER!" she exclaimed as she leaped towards him while she stared to glow with a blue aura. He rushed under her and attempted to push her out of the way as she swung towards him. He managed to only grab her exposed arm, as his skin made contact with hers, the blue glow vanished and her arms started to shake it looked as if she was going to drop the hammer. After a few seconds, the hammer fell to the ground with a crash.

"Hey Junichi, don't let your Sekirei do all the work. Fight me, man to man." he said as Yashima fell to the ground and looked up at him with fear in her eyes.

"Fine I'll kick your ass, just like in school." said Juninchi as he advanced on Tetsuya.

He watched as Junichi walked up to him and took the pose he'd always taken when he'd beat Tetsuya up in high school. But things were different now. He had spent the last 2 years working his ass off to get in shape so he'd never have to suffer in silence while tyrants like Junichi, or a certain CEO who dressed in all white and owned most of Shintou Teitou, terrorized people and ruined their lives. He'd had a long past couple of days, finding out Miya was his mom and had kept it from him, the job offer from Minaka, and winging Toyotama. He'd taken it all in stride, but this was too much, now it was time for payback. As Junichi took a swing at him, he took the helmet that was in his hands that Junichi had failed to notice and slammed it into the side of his head with all his strength. Junichi was sent reeling, Tetsuya didn't give him a chance to recover he slammed a fist into his nose, breaking it. This was personal now. It wasn't about how Junichi had bullied him in school. This was about the way he treated his Sekirei. He was sick and tired of all these people using them like tools or abusing them for their own desires. They were people for Buddha's sake. Why did no one seem to see that? That was what angered him more than anything. He slammed a fist into Junichi's ribs. Junichi swung wildly for Tetsuya's face. Tetsuya dodged and delivered a vicious uppercut to his jaw. Junichi hit the ground hard. He stood up a few seconds later and pulled out a switchblade and flicked out the blade. He swung the knife at Tetsuya scoring a small horizontal cut along Tetsuya's ribs. Tetsuya grabbed his helmet off the ground and threw it at Junichi's head. It hit him solidly in the forehead. Junichi hit the ground hard, Tetsuya didn't give him an opening this time he rushed over and kicked the knife away. He got on top of Junichi and slammed his elbow into his jaw. He had no idea why he did what he did next, but he put his hand on Junichi's forehead and uttered a phrase that appeared in his head.

"By the power of fate, I release all of the birds this one has caged. I release them back into the sky above so they might find their Fated Ones again." as he said this there was a flash of light.

Yashima

Who was this man? The second he touched her skin, all of her strength deserted her. She was no stronger than an average human now. Even the strength that her Norito granted had left her... She watched on helpless as him and her Ashikabi started to fight. She was pinned under part of the hammer rendering her unable to move. She watched as the man got on top of her Ashikabi and said some words she couldn't hear. After he said them, there was a flash of light along with the feeling of her crest disappearing. But it didn't feel like she was being terminated, it felt like she was being given a chance to find another Ashikabi. She felt her strength return to her and she shifted the hammer off of her. The boy walked by her toward his motorcycle.

"What did you to my Junichi and why is the bond I feel with him gone?" she asked the man pleadingly.

"If I had to guess I'm guessing I'm using an ability my father gave me to release you from your winging to give you a second chance to find an Ashikabi. Also, do yourself a favor, find a man who will treat you better. A girl like you deserves better than him. I also told him that if he ever laid hands on another girl, Sekirei or not. I'd be back to finish the job." he said as he got on and put his helmet on.

"Will you be my Ashikabi?" she asked hopefully.

"No, I can't give you the time you deserve, I'm sorry but you have to find one who will treat you right, and I'm too busy to give the three Sekirei I already have as much attention as they deserve right now. Goodbye, and good luck." he said as he took of on his motorcycle.

_Present day_

Tetsuya was woken by the alarm he had set on his phone going off. He grabbed his jacket and got dressed for his dinner with Minaka. He went down to the car that had arrived for him to see Takami Sahashi sitting in the back when he got in.

"I heard what you did for Yashima a couple of days ago, how did you do that?" she asked as he sat down across from her.

"Same way I winged Akitsu, I don't know." he sad as he buckled in. He neglected to mention how he had gotten a lot stronger and faster since the incident with Yashima.

They rode in silence until they arrived at a fancy restaurant. The arrived inside to see Minaka had reserved the entire place for tonight. He sat down at a large table with Minaka, Takami, and 3 other women. One wore a sleeveless dress, and pink hair in a side ponytail with two daisy clips. She had small breasts, she had the appearance of a cheerful, younger teenager, Tetsuya could tell she was a Sekirei as well as the other two girls. He didn't know how he knew but he was sure they were. Another wore a kimono over her bandaged body, had disheveled grey hair and narrow eyes; giving her a wicked, daunting appearance. The last one seemed the same type of scary as Miya was but seemed darker in some way that Tetsuya couldn't place. She wore a tight black leather top, a miniskirt and stockings. She had long light gray hair tied in a ponytail and gray narrow eyes. Minaka was dressed in his usual white outfit. Buddha, how Tetsuya hated that outfit.

"Let's talk about you future Tetsuya." said Minaka.

_Several hours later... _

The residents of Maison Izumo sat around the table for a late dinner. Though it seemed the only one who was eating was Kusano. The room was crowded due to all the extra guest. Seo, Matsu, and Kagari usually didn't eat with the others and now that they were, they had to squeeze together to fit everyone in the dining room.

"Do you think he's ever coming back?" asked Uzume sadly.

"I hope so." said Toyotama, staring at her plate.

"I know he'll return." said Akitsu resolutely.

"Wow, you really believe in him, don't you?" asked Minato, from beside Musubi.

"I do. I trust him more than I do anyone else in the world." she said as she rubbed the ribbon wrapped around her wrist.

"You okay Miya?" asked Seo, sounding concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine." said Miya in her normal tone, but Seo and Kagari could tell she was upset. They all ate in silence, until finally they heard someone call from the living room doorway,

"Room for one more?" Uzume and Toyotama whirled around to see Tetsuya standing in the doorway in jeans and a t-shirt. Akitsu looked up from the table at her Ashikabi. He was leaning against the doorway nonchalantly when Uzume, Toyotama, and Akitsu leaped up and tackled him to the ground in a massive group hug.

End Of Chapter

Alrighty here's chapter 7 for you. Looks like Tetsuya learned quite a lot on his week away from the Inn. Also, any Yashima fans, FEAR NOT, #84 will return. Most likely as a main character. Also, don't forget to vote for who you think Tetsuya should wing on the poll on my profile. Please R&R. Also PM me any questions you have. Also quick question, can someone tell me why people seem so intent on him winging Tsukiumi?


	8. Tetsuya's Journey Part 2

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei, or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay guys but I've been busy with Crysis 3 for the past week; and to be honest, I was trying to decide which direction I was going to take the story in, seeing as how the following chapter could make or break the story. I've decided to reach out to some fellow authors in search of feedback, including but not limited to, the lord of the land of fire and FreeTraderBeowolf. I thank FreeTraderBeowolf for his help, I especially appreciate his reaching out and PMing me. I hope the lord of the land of fire will get back to me. Also, I'm still curious as to why Tsukiumi was such a popular choice in the polls, any of you who've voted for her, please PM me with your reasoning behind the vote. I would greatly appreciate you helping me with this dilemma of mine.

Chapter 8: Tetsuya's Journey Part 2

Tetsuya stared up at the living room ceiling of Maison Izumo. Despite his best attempts he could not get up, he was pinned to the floor by his 3 Sekireis who had tackled him to the floor in a group hug. Not surprising, since he had disappeared for a week to parts unknown without so much as a kiss goodbye.

"Alright girls, I missed you too, but may I get up now?" asked Tetsuya from the floor. His Sekireis got up off of him and Toyotama pulled him up from the floor effortlessly and hugged him as tightly as she could in one smooth motion.

"Toyotama easy, you're gonna pop my stitches." Tetsuya gasped. Toyotama stopped hugging him and held him at arm's length.

"What?!" many of the people in the living room asked as one. Tetsuya lifted up his shirt to reveal the cut Junichi had given him, now sewn up with black thread. He had sewn it up himself in the hotel room after the fight with Junichi. It had hurt like no other, but he had sewn himself up after a motorcycle accident on more than one occasion.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Uzume asked as she placed a hand over her mouth in shock.

"I got cut by some bastard while I was kicking his ass for abusing his Sekirei. Right after I did some weird thing that removed his Sekirei's crest without terminating her. I think it has something to do with Miya being my mom and her husband Takehito, my father working for MBI as an adjuster. All I know is, **that **particular Sekirei has a chance to find a chance to find an Ashikabi who will treat her right." he said with a smile.

"Whoa, back up man. Miya's your mom?" Kagari said incredulously as he turned to look at his landlady.

"Yeah, she told me right before I left. I left because I was just too overloaded with problems..." said Tetsuya as he remembered that fateful night that seemed like ages ago.

_One week prior..._

Tetsuya followed Miya into the living room of the Inn. She was silent as she gestured for him to sit down at the table. He took a seat and looked up at his landlady.

"Is everything alright Miya? You're acting kind of strange." Tetsuya said.

"I'm just a little nervous. Listen, there's something I have to tell you and I want you to promise me that you won't say anything until I'm finished." she said solemnly.

"Yea sure, I promise." he said worriedly, he'd never seen Miya like this. She seemed so different from the young, confident, warm landlady he'd grown accustomed to.

So over the next hour Miya told Tetsuya a story of aliens, birds, spaceships, and love. She told him how she had been awakened on the spaceship that had crashed on Kamikura Island. How Minaka had made her the head of the Disciplinary Squad and tasked her with defending the other sleeping Sekirei. She told him how she had met his father soon after that and how he had helped her see the good in people, something that having to defend the sleeping birds against invading armies had blinded her to.

Shortly after that they had fallen in love and married soon after. After which, she quit MBI and moved to Izumo Inn, which until that point was owned solely by his father. Seo had taught her how to take care of the Inn, something she had found she was sorely lacking knowledge in. She then told him how she knew Seo and how shortly after learning how to take care of the Inn, she had become pregnant with Tetsuya.

She and Takehito had feared that if Minaka learned of the child, he would use him as a part of the Sekirei plan. Minaka had radically altered the S Plan into a sick and twisted game that focused on pitting the Sekirei against each other rather than protecting them. Takehito had convinced her that they needed to send the child away. After Tetsuya was born a few months later, Takehito had delivered Tetsuya to Seo's apartment and headed to MBI to deal with a problem with one of the Jinki, an alien device that was found on the same ship as the Sekirei. Takehito died later that night.

Afterward Tetsuya sat at the table, too stunned to speak. After a long while he said,

"Miya, I appreciate you telling me this, but I've got too much on my plate right now to deal with this. I've gotta think things over for myself. I'll be back when I get back. Give the girls my love." With that, Tetsuya went up and grabbed his coat, wallet, and new keys and had taken off.

_Present day..._

But now he was back and he was never going to leave his Sekirei alone ever again. He sat down to dinner with his favorite people in the world and some new friends. He discovered that Minato had a new Sekirei named Kusano, who would bunk with Miya. He discovered that Akitsu had been doing the cooking since he had left, since Miya had thought he was angry at her and had been very depressed since he left. They all ate together and after they finished, Tetsuya followed his mother to the kitchen to help with the dishes.

"Hey Mom, how you doing?" he asked as he entered behind her. Miya turned to face him, she looked like she hadn't slept in days, though despite this, she smiled at him in her usual warm manner.

"Tetsuya, you don't have to call me Mom. I didn't raise you and I wasn't there for most of your life, just call me Miya." she said with a smile.

"**Can** I call you mom though? I've always wanted to be able to say mom without having to say I've never met or I don't know who in the same sentence." said Tetsuya with a shrug. Miya giggled and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Of course you can, Tetsuya." she said warmly. Tetsuya stayed and helped her finish the dishes before heading out to see his Sekirei waiting out in the living room for him. They looked like they had been waiting for him to finish his Mother/Child moment with Miya.

"I missed you girls so much. I'm sorry for leaving without telling you, I just needed some time to think. But I'm back now, and I promise I will **never **leave you girls alone without telling you ever again. Can you ever forgive me?" he asked. In response to this, Uzume, Akitsu, and Toyotama walked toward him and hugged him once more.

"Of course we can, Tetsuya. You're our Ashikabi and we love you more than anything. While you were gone, Akitsu explained how you were stressing about everything and you needed to think. We all agreed that you needed space after that." said Uzume, trying her hardest not cry.

"Yeah, but next time please just let us know next time you need your space. You had us worried sick, you know that? We thought we'd lost you forever." said Toyotama, tearing up slightly.

"Well not Akitsu, she was sure you'd come back. She never doubted you for a second." said Uzume with a sniff.

"Yeah, well no matter what happens from now on, I'll never leave you girls alone again. But can we head to my bedroom? I need to tell you girls something." he said, suddenly serious. He knew if he didn't tell them now, he'd never be able to tell them. He headed up to his room and sat down in the corner, his Sekireis sat down in a semi-circle in front of him. He took a deep breath and emotionally prepared himself for what he was about to say.

"I took the job at MBI, as soon as the second stage of the Sekirei Plan begins I'm supposed to move to MBI tower and take control of the Disciplinary Squad. I hate Minaka and everything he stands for but I took the job because it will drastically increase our chances of winning and once we win, I'll be more than capable of taking care of you girls for the rest of our lives. Also, it has come to my attention that I am likely to wing more Sekirei and Maison Izumo won't be able to hold us and Miya's other tenants. I realize that some of you have some bad history with MBI and I'll totally understand if you wanna stay here with Miya while I work for them. But I thought I'd ask, will you all come with me?" Tetsuya said diplomatically. His voice sounded calm, but on the inside he was terrified that his Sekireis would say no. He loved them all so much even if he didn't have time to show them just how much. He waited apprehensively for their answer. He watched as they all looked at each other and nodded.

"Tetsuya, it doesn't matter where you go or who you work for, as long as we're with you we're happy, we will follow you anywhere, no matter what. I think I speak for all of us when I say we'd be happy to come with you to MBI. " said Toyotama. Akitsu and Uzume nodded their heads in agreement.

"Thanks so much, all of you, I can't tell you how much this means to me. Hey, how 'bout I hook my laptop up to the TV and we watch a movie." said Tetsuya with tear-filled eyes.

"Sounds great. I'm gonna go change, I'll be right back." said Uzume as she got up and headed to her room.

"Me too." said Toyotama as she got up and followed Uzume out. Akitsu moved to follow them, but on her way out she turned and ran back to Tetsuya as he stood up and was moving to the closet to get the laptop MBI had sent him. She tapped him on the shoulder, and as he turned around to face her she kissed him passionately on the lips in one of her rare moments of emotion, something that few people other than Tetsuya ever got to see. Tetsuya wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back with as much passion a he could muster. After about half a minute, she pulled away from him. Her pale cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily.

"I'm glad you're back. I knew you would be back eventually, but I missed you all the same." she said lovingly.

"I missed you too, Akitsu." he said. She gave him one of her rare smiles. It was a simple thing, but it lit up his world when she did it. Right now though, it just made him feel awful for lying to her. But if he told her why he had really taken the job, it would just make her feel guilty...

_Earlier that night..._

Tetsuya took a seat next to the across from Minaka. They sat at a rectangular table with Minaka at it's head. While Takami sat to his right and the woman in the leather top to his left. Tetsuya sat at the end opposite Minaka with the girl in the sleeveless dress to his left and the one on the kimono to his right.

"Hello Tetsuya, I would like to introduce you to the Disciplinary Squad. This woman to my left is Sekirei #04, the Black Sekirei, Karasuba. But of course you've already met Takami" He said gesturing to the woman on his left in the tight leather top. She smiled and nodded.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet the son of number one. I used to work with you mother, you know." she said politely.

"Now that's impossible, there's no way you're a day over 25." Tetsuya said in a flattering tone. Karasuba chuckled in response.

"You're too kind." she said. Minaka had watched this all in silence. He decided to cut in before things got too far off track.

"Tetsuya, I'd also like to introduce numbers 104 and 105, Haihane and Benitsubasa." he said gesturing first to the girl in the kimono, then to the girl in the dress next to Tetsuya.

"A pleasure to meet you both." said to both of them. Haihane just nodded. The one in the dress blushed and said,

"Thanks, it's nice to meet you too." she looked down at the table as she said this. Karasuba raised one eyebrow at this spectacle. _Oh my god, Benitsubasa's reacting to this boy, _she thought with a giggle.

They spent the rest of dinner discussing what Tetsuya's responsibilities would be if he took the job. He would be in charge of making sure that all the Sekireis and Ashikabis followed the rules of the game. Though Minaka agreed that Tetsuya wasn't really needed until the second stage. Minaka also added that if he wanted to, he could use the Disciplinary Squad to protect unwinged Sekirei from being hunted down or forcefully winged. Tetsuya had to admit, it was a tempting offer. Minaka would be paying him a ridiculous amount of money to do this job. He would easily be a multimillionaire by the time the Sekirei Plan as over if he did accept the job. Though on the ride over Takami had told him more about the night his father died, how it was Minaka's reckless attempts to use the Jinki that had forced his father to sacrifice his own life to save all the Sekirei still in MBI Tower. So when Minaka slid the contract across the table to Tetsuya, he tapped his pen against the table. No, he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't work for the company that had thrown away Akitsu and cost him the chance to meet his father.

"Minaka thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to ask you to fold up this contract into a small square of paper, bend over, AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!" Tetsuya shouted as he stood up

"Oh my." said Karasuba with a chuckle. This boy had some guts, she thought.

"You discarded Akitsu and you killed my father. Minaka, I will never work for you." said Tetsuya said as he turned to leave.

"It would be a shame, if the same thing that killed your father, also terminated your Sekirei." Minaka said calmly as Tetsuya was heading to the door. Tetsuya stopped dead in his tracks as he was reaching for the door handle. His blood had turned to ice.

"What?" he asked quietly, not turning around.

"The Jinki, I still have them and I'm afraid if you insist on declining my offer I will have use them to terminate your Sekirei. You're a wild card Tetsuya, you could unbalance the game and I can't let that happen. So if you don't agree to do this I'll have to terminate your Sekirei." said Minaka.

So Tetsuya sat back down at the table and signed the contract resignedly. He could swear he felt Minaka's hand on his soul as he slid the signed contract back to the chairman. He turned and trudged out of the restaurant. After he left Karasuba turned to Minaka and said,

"You know this isn't over, right? He's going to do everything he can to worm out from under your thumb, especially once he gets a Jinki." said Karasuba to the chairman.

"I'll leave that to you." he said as he got up and headed out to the car that had arrived to pick him up.

The Disciplinary Squad got up and rode back in the car that Minaka had sent to pick them up. All the way back, Haihane teased Benitsubasa about reacting to Tetsuya during dinner. Karasuba was surprised they made it back to the tower without Benitsubasa destroying the car.

_Present day..._

Miya peered into Tetsuya's room to see her son asleep with his Sekireis with the TV MBI had sent still on. She moved to head in and wake his Sekirei but before she could, Seo put a hand on her shoulder saying,

"C'mon let them be. I mean, he **is **your only tenant besides Kagari who pays his rent."

"I suppose that's true, and anyways he has had a long week." she said to him. She'd enjoyed having him stay over this past week, it'd given them plenty of time to catch up. It had been so long since they had seen each other. Seo was a completely different person now. He had turned into a responsible adult, far from the immature loser he'd been when they had first met.

"I'm gonna head home, though I'll try to visit from now on." Seo said as he started to head downstairs.

"Alright, I think I will turn in as well." she said as she followed him downstairs.

On a nearby rooftop a woman stood watching the Inn with interest. Things were quiet, until a man in black wearing an orange scarf touched down behind her on the rooftop.

"Wow, long time no see, number eight. Rumor was, that you were dead. Something about losing your core or something like that." said the man.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, Mutsu. Why are you here though, don't you have an Ashikabi?" the woman said without turning around.

"I do, but Hayato has taken an interest in a certain young man and I was curious as well so I thought I'd look in on it. So why are you here?" said the man.

"Because two of the residents in that interest me and I believe they will do the right thing if either one of them wins." she said.

"Ah, you mean you think they'll free all the little birds, like you want to." said the man smugly.

"Yes, one of them has already released one little bird named Yashima from her bond with an abusive Ashikabi, and that tells me that he is definitely a person who I wouldn't mind winging me. He's different from all the other Ashikabis, even you must have heard that." she said plainly.

"I had. Did you know he's the son of #01?" asked Mutsu.

"No, I didn't. But that would explain a lot. Mutsu, I trust I can expect you not to reveal what you saw here tonight?" Yume said quietly. She had much to think on. She had to make sure one of these two won. But that would be difficult, MBI thought she was dead and if she revealed her presence then they would send Karasuba after her and she wasn't sure she could beat #04 anymore.

"Of course, the only person stronger then you is number 01 and I'm not stupid. I can't beat you or her." he said as he turned and leaped off the roof.

"So #08's alive. Things are getting interesting." he said as he headed back to his Ashikabi...

End of Chapter 8

Author's Note: So, Yume's alive. But why did she fake her death? How did Musubi survive if #08 didn't give her core to her? All these questions and more will be answered in the chapters to come. I've decided Chiho will be featured in this story. So don't forget to vote on the poll. Also, any who vote for Tsukiumi, please PM me with your reasoning behind that vote. I'm very interested in why people think Tetsuya should wing her.


	9. Trouble At Home

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright, not much has changed since I posted my last chapter 5 hours prior to writing this. Though I must say, Karasuba and Benitsubasa have gotten much more popular. Though I'm bouncing around the idea of Tetsuya winging Tsukiumi or Yume. I think him and Tsukiumi would be an interesting combination considering his heritage and strong will. She'd be less likely to consider him a "monkey" considering that he is half-Sekirei. Though Yume and Karasuba do have history. PM me with your input if you want to. Now prepare for one of the most exciting chapters to date.

Chapter 9- Trouble At Home

Tetsuya awoke surrounded by his 3 favorite girls in the world, not counting his mother, of course. He was moving to get up when he felt a hand down his pants, grabbing on to a certain male-exclusive body part. It wasn't Akitsu's. That much he knew, her hands were always cold. Not that he minded of course.

"Who has their hand down my pants?" he asked quietly trying not to attract Miya's attention.

"Mmmmm, so that's what I'm grabbing." said Toyotama turning to look at him. She had an all to familiar twinkle in her eye. Tetsuya recognized it from the time she had tried to seduce him her first day at the Inn.

"Toyotama please remove your hand. I would like to live to be 20 and if my mother were to walk in right now, that would not happen." he said trying his hardest to distract himself in order to prevent Toyotama from having a reason to continue her current endeavor.

"C'mon, you know you want to." she said as she sat up, she was dressed in a black lace nightie that Tetsuya guessed Uzume had lent her.

"What do we have here?" asked a voice from behind him. Tetsuya turned to see Kagari standing in the doorway.

"I will pay you a large sum of money to ensure Miya never hear of this." Tetsuya said in a whisper.

"Heh, fine. You kids have fun" Kagari said as he turned and left.

Tetsuya manged to extricate Toyotama's hand from his pants a few minutes later. He exited his room a few minutes later, dressed only in his pajama bottoms. He turned to see a petite and slim young woman with black hair and blue eyes, coming out of Minato's room.

"Oh dear Buddha." he muttered. "Minato, did you wing another Sekirei while I was asleep?" he called down the hall to Minato's room. He watched as Minato's head popped out of the doorway into the hallway.

"What?! No, that's my sister Yukari, she's here to drop off some clothes for Musubi." he called down to Tetsuya.

"Oh, my apologies young lady. Hello, I'm Tetsuya Asama. It's a pleasure to meet you." he said as he took one of Yukari's hands and kissed it. Yukari giggled and blushed a furious red color.

"Nice to meet you, Tetsuya. Are you a friend of my brother?" she asked, trying hard not to stare at his exposed torso(and failing, I might add.).

"You could say that. Now if you'll excuse me, I need a word with your brother." he said as he headed down the hall to Minato's room. As he entered Minato's room he heard Minato say,

"I thought you said your last name was Kaoru."

"Yeah, but I had it changed while I was away last week. Miya's my mom and Takehito **was **my dad. Takami told me about all the things they did together. I decided I was proud to be their son and I wanted to show it." he said simply. He made it sound so simple but in truth he had grappled with the decision for days before deciding to change his name.

"Oh, that's cool." Minato said to Tetsuysa. Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind. One that would piss Takami off, but not impact his situation.

"Hey you do realize you mom works for MBI, right? She's MBI's head of R&D." said Tetsuya as he turned to leave.

"Wait, what? Where are you going? Tell me more!" he exclaimed as Tetsuya walked down the hall.

"Nope, ask your mother." Tetsuya called back.

Tetsuya went back to his room and changed into his leisure clothes and headed downstairs for breakfast. Akitsu was in the kitchen making breakfast. He saw Yukari talking to Kagari as he headed down the hall, she followed him into his room. Tetsuya paid it no mind as Akitsu walked into the living room carrying two plates of eggs and smoked salmon. She sat one down in front of Tetsuya and took a seat next to him and began to eat.

"Hey, where are Uzume and Toyotama?" he asked as he noticed the absence of his other 2 Sekirei.

"They are outside training with Miya, along with Mususbi." said Akitsu as Tetsuya began to eat. Tetsuya however, was distracted by the delicious food on his plate, he hadn't had a home-cooked meal in over a week.

"Mmmmm. This is good Akitsu. You're just as good, if not a better cook than Miya." Tetsuya said between bites. Akitsu blushed and looked down at the table. She had never been complimented before, at least not in such a straightforward manner. It meant a lot to her, even more since it came from her Ashikabi.

"Thank you. I'm glad you like it." she said bashfully, as all semblance of manners deserted Tetsuya and he shoveled down food as fast as he could swallow it. After he had finished and put his dishes away Miya came in to the kitchen saying,

"Tetsuya, I have a list of things I'll need for dinner later tonight. Would you mind going to the store to pick them up?" she asked in her normal polite tone as she held out a shopping list toward him.

"Sure thing, mom." Tetsuya said as he took the shopping list from her hands and headed outside.

"Bye girls, I'll be back soon. I love you" Tetsuya called over to Uzume and Toyotama.

"Bye Tetsuya, see ya later. We love you too." Uzume called over to him with a wave. Hmm, I'll think I'll run to there today, thought Tetsuya. He took off toward the alley across the street and vaulted the dumpster and landed on the other side and took off toward the store.

Musubi

Musubi watched as Tetsuya vaulted effortlessly over the dumpster in the alley.

"Wow, Tetsuya sure has gotten stronger!" she said excitedly as she turned to face Uzume and Toyotama who were both out of breath from their training with Miya.

"Yeah, he sure has..." said Toyotama sounding puzzled, her voice trailing off at the end.

"Well it does make sense. Miya IS his mom after all. That doesn't hurt." said Uzume, with a shrug.

"How do you mean?" Toyotama asked quizzically. Uzume leaned in close and whispered something in her ear.

"No! Really?" Toyotama gasped in shock. Uzume nodded in response. "That means-"

"Yep."

"And he's-"

"That is correct."

"Does Akitsu-"

" Oh yea, totally." said Uzume casually.

"What are you two talking about?" asked Musubi innocently

"Well apparently Miya is-" Toyotama began in a hushed tone.

"I'm what?" Miya asked in a scary tone as her hannya mask materialized behind her.

"Nothing! Never mind." Toyotama squealed in terror. Musubi tilted her head to the side. She was confused. What had Uzume said to Toyotama? She was distracted from her thoughts by Minato asking from inside the Inn,

"Hey, has anyone seen Yukari?"

"Yeah, she's in Kagari's room." Uzume called back.

Yukari

She straddled the lean man she had met a short while ago, she normally didn't act like this but ever since Junichi had dumped her for that weird girl with the hammer she had been so lonely, and she couldn't explain it, but she felt a strange connection to this beautiful man. He had said all the tight things. He had made her feel beautiful, mature, and confident. She ran her hands over his chest as she leaned down and kissed him gently on the mouth. As she did, she saw what appeared to be wings composed of flame sprout from his back. They were beautiful, but they also raised many questions.

"Dude, what was that?!" she exclaimed. Kagari sighed and lifted Yukari off his chest and sat her down next to him.

"Alright Yukari, make yourself comfortable. I have to tell you something, and it's going to take a while."

Tetsuya

He arrived at the grocery store 8 minutes later. He smiled, a week ago that run would've had him gasping for air like a fish out of water. But ever since that incident with Junichi he'd been becoming faster and stronger every day. He knew why, Takami had explained it. He had "spread his wings" and his Sekirei genes were starting to become more dominant. He would become faster and stronger in the coming weeks she had said. Maybe one day, he'd be as strong as his mother. Takami said at her height, his mom could cut a battleship in two from a half mile away with one swing. He doubted he could ever do that, but it was a nice idea. He cursed inwardly, he'd meant to ask Miya if she'd teach him how to handle a sword. He'd do it when he got back, he thought with a shrug. He passed the alley that sat next to the store. As he passed, he heard a voice from within.

"Listen, if you girls come with me and agree to be my Sekireis, everyone's happy and I won't have to waste time and energy sending my other Sekireis to hunt you down and bring you to me. So what do you ladies say?" the voice said, it sounded like it belonged to a man. Tetsuya turned around and looked inside to see a man in a white suit standing in front of two attractive girls with long black hair. They looked like they were twins. Both of them were dressed in maid outfits. One was standing quietly behind the other. The other looked PISSED.

"No way Higa, we've heard all about you. You may be rich, but you treat your Sekireis like crap. We'll never let you wing us." said the angry looking one as she raised her hand. As she raised her hand a lightning bolt appeared in it.

Ah, I see; wait a minute didn't Junichi say that some dude named Higa put a bounty on me, thought Tetsuya. He would bet anything that this dude was the one who'd put a bounty on him. He walked down the alley and stopped behind Higa. Tetsuya tapped twice on Higa's shoulder. Higa turned around to face him, only to have Tetsuya's fist connect solidly with the side of his face halfway through his turn. Higa spun around and fell solidly to the ground. Higa looked up to see Tetsuya looming over him.

"Remember me assface?!" Tetsuya exclaimed as he glared at Higa. Higa's eyes widened in a mix of recognition and fear.

"You! You're the one who stole #16 from me!" exclaimed Higa.

"Her name is Toyotama! And I didn't **steal **her, I rescued her." Tetsuya said as he grabbed Higa's shirt and punched him in the face. Higa fell to the ground again. When he got up he was coughing up blood.

"Next time you think about putting a bounty out on me, have the guts to finish your own score. Don't send an idiot like Junichi to do it for you." Tetsuya said as Higa picked himself up and stumbled out of the alley.

"I won't forget this!" Higa called back as he was running away.

"I'm counting on it!" Tetsuya yelled in response. He turned to face the two girls Higa had been talking to.

"Sorry you had to see that ladies. Are you two okay?" he asked. The girls gasped in unison as they caught a glimpse of his face.

"Oh my god, it's him Hibiki!" exclaimed the one in front, Tetsuya noticed that her breast were significantly larger than her sister's. At least Tetsuya thought they were sisters, he wasn't sure.

"I see that, Hikari. But how's that possible?" said the other one. Her voice was strangely level as she said this. As she said this Tetsuya remembered how Toyotama said she'd known where he'd be.

"You girls didn't happen to see me in a dream did you?" he said offhandedly.

"Yea, how did you know?" the one named Hikari said, sounding taken aback. The second she had gotten a glimpse of his face her body had felt like there was an enormous fire raging in her chest. She hoped the boy didn't notice how flushed her cheeks were, it felt like her body was on fire and she could swear her face was bound to be the exact same color as a tomato. Her heart was pounding so hard, she was surprised he couldn't hear it. And if she was reacting to him, she was sure Hibiki was too.

"Did Homura also happen to mention me to you?" Tetsuya asked.

"Yes, he did." Hibiki said calmly.

"'Course he did." Tetsuya muttered. As he said this he noticed how flushed both of the girls cheeks had become, along with a not-unpleasant burning sensation at the base of his neck. He remembered this sensation he had felt it the entire time he had dinner with Minaka along with for a brief period later that night when he had ran into Benitsubasa at the gym later that night. It had only subsided an hour later, back at MBI tower when he'd gotten to know the Sekireis of the Disciplinary Squad **much **better. He had guessed it signified when a Sekirei was reacting to him.

The twins followed Tetsuya to the store while he picked up groceries for Miya. They told him how for the past few weeks they'd been mercilessly chased by the East's and South's Sekirei. They told him how they had been told by Homura of an Ashikabi in the North who had saved Sekireis from being winged by Higa or Mikogami. An Ashikabi who treated his Sekireis the way they deserved. On the way out of the store he abruptly stopped and turned to face them.

"So lemme get this straight, are you girls **asking** me to wing you?" he said to the twins. He'd never been asked to wing a Sekirei, usually they just kissed him out of the blue (Well, not counting Yashima). Hibiki nodded.

"Please, if it's not too much." Hikari pleaded. He could tell they were desperate, and they seemed plenty nice. Though Hikari was a little impulsive he had noticed.

"Alright, fine. The Second Stage is fast approaching anyways. But let me be very clear, I already have si- many Sekireis, and I might wing many more. Are you okay with that?" he said making sure to not reveal the precise number. This was a first, he thought. He normally never had time to ask beforehand.

"But-... Fine." Hikari said sounding disappointed. She wanted to be the only one her Ashikabi cared about, but she couldn't stand being away from her sister, so she had decided when she was young they were a package deal. Now she was hearing she had to share the first person she had ever reacted to with someone other than her sister. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than being forcibly winged. Besides, while they had been shopping she had gotten to know Tetsuya, the man was kind, gentle, but strong as well and when he talked about his Sekireis, it was obvious form the look on his face he loved them all equally. He would treat them right, she knew he would.

"But if we're gonna do this, let's do it right, follow me." He could tell they didn't like the fact that they'd have to share him. So he decided he'd make each of their wingings unique and special in hopes that it'd help them feel better about having to share him. He could tell they were close, but at the same time they were very different people. He wanted to give each of them their own special memory to remember him by. They had to share so much, they deserved to have something unique to one another.

The girls followed him to a park that was close to a the Inn and he led Hikari to a small bridge that over looked a pond. She and Hibiki had played rock, paper, scissors to see who'd go first. Hikari had won. Tetsuya took Hikari's hand and looked into her eyes, knowing full well what effect his touch was having on the girl, Uzume had described it in explicit detail a few weeks ago. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and held her tight against him as he let go of her hand and cupped her cheek in his hand and looked deep into her hazel eyes.

Hikari

Her body felt so hot that she thought she'd burst into flame. She looked deep into Tetsuya's gray eyes and placed her hand over the hand he had placed on her cheek and held it there, his hand felt so strong, she felt like all she wanted to do was stay there in his arms forever, she wanted to forget about the being chased for days on end, she wanted to forget about the Sekirei Plan, about MBI, and more than anything she wanted to forget that she'd have to share this amazing man with other women.

She knew it was selfish but she wanted him all to herself, she'd only just met him but she already knew that she would love this man until the world stopped turning. She placed he other hand on the back of his neck and pulled him in closer and kissed him on the lips. She tried to communicate with her lips all these feelings and more. But even this wonderful moment couldn't tell him how much she loved him as her violet wings sprang from her back and she felt the bond between him and her form. Maybe with that bond one day, she'd be able to tell him how much she loved him.

As he pulled away she saw something in his eyes, it looked like shame, the type of shame that would stain his soul forever(AN: that couldn't possibly be foreshadowing could it? It also totally couldn't have anything to do with selling out to work for MBI). She put it out of her mind for now. She had an Ashikabi finally, someone to fight for, someone to protect, someone to love. She had never felt as at peace before then, as she did at that moment...

Hibiki

Tetsuya arrived back at the park entrance with Hikari a few minutes later. When he got back he took her hand and wordlessly led her to a large cherry blossom tree in full bloom at the edge of the park. Tetsuya leaned in close and whispered two words in her ear.

"Do it."

"Do what?" she asked in her usual calm voice.

"What you've always wanted to do. Hikari is always so impulsive, it makes it so you have to be calm and composed and keep your emotions bottled up inside. Let it all out. It's your turn to be passionate, Hibiki." he whispered in her ear.

A dam broke inside Hibiki. A dam that had kept back all the emotions that she had had to put aside to keep Hikari from getting in trouble over the years. She pushed Tetsuya against the tree and kissed him more passionately than she had ever done anything before in her life. She pushed her tongue inside his mouth and swirled it around his. She wanted-. No, she needed this man. She would do whatever it took to protect him, and though she dared not admit it, she knew she'd be willing to strike down her sister for him. All the emotions that she had had to put aside over the years came back a hundredfold in response to his words. She wrapped her arms around his back as he lifted her up and swept her off her feet and kissed her back as her dark pink wings sprang from her back, after what seemed like hours she pulled away, tears in her eyes.

"Thank you so much, I don't know how you did it, but thank you, I've never felt like that before." she said as she hugged him, tears still streaming from her eyes. She held onto him like he was a dream. She felt like if she let go of him, he'd vanish into thin air.

"Shhhh, it's okay. I'm right here" he said quietly. He held her in his arms until she stopped crying, after that he met back up with Hikari and headed back to Maison Izumo.

_Back at the Inn..._

Yukari

"Wait, Homura, what are you saying?" she asked astonishment.

"I'm your Sekirei now and I promise to fight for you if you'll let me. Yukari, you're my Ashikabi and I'll do whatever it takes to remain by your side." he said blushing slightly. He had told her about the Sekirei plan over the past hour or so. She had taken it remarkably well. She grabbed one of his hands and took it in hers.

"Of course you can. I don't care if your name's Homura or Kagari. I care about you and I'd love it if you stayed by my side." she said gently as she kissed him on the lips once again.

Miya

As she walked by Kagari's room she saw a light shining through a crack in the door, she peered inside to see the wings of flame sprouting from Kagari's back. My, my, it seems Homura had finally found an Ashikabi, she thought. The man certainly deserved it, he had been looking for one for years. She headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch. After she had finished she had called everyone to lunch. Mususbi and Kusano arrived shortly, followed closely by Kagari who was holding Yukari's hand as he did. Uzume, Toyotama, and Akitsu arrived a few minutes later. Strangely enough, Minato and Matsu were absent from the table. She ate quietly with the others, as she went to the kitchen to put her plate away Homura came into the kitchen with Yukari. There was a knock at the door followed by Musubi's voice,

"I'll get it!" she said in her normal bubbly tone.

"Miya, there's something I have to tell you-," Homura began to say, when suddenly she heard Musubi called from the other room.

"Oh my god! What are you doing here Karasuba?" she asked delightedly. The second that Miya heard Musubi mention the Black Sekireis name, she grabbed he katana from her room and ran outside. She unsheathed it and pointed at #4 before she could react. She noticed she was here with two other Sekireis.

"What are you doing here?" she asked icily.

"I'm here to visit **my **Ashikabi." Karasuba said calmly. At that moment Miya heard the familiar voice of her son calling form the entrance.

"Miya, I'm home." Tetsuya called from the entrance to the front yard.

Tetsuya, explain this." she said icily as she gestured to the Black Sekirei.

Tetsuya

He walked into Maison Izumo's front yard with Hikari and Hibiki to see his mother pointing her katana at Karasuba, who was there with Haihane and Benitsubasa as well.

He rushed over to put himself between his mom and his fifth Sekirei.

"Mom don't, Karasuba's my Sekirei. I took the job at MBI." he said as he tried to defuse the situation.

As he said this Miya's face drained of color, tears came to her eye.

Tetsuya, how could you?" she asked, trying her best not to cry...

End of Chapter

AN: Alright guys, how will Miya react to knowing her son winged her mortal enemy, the person she blames for Takehito's death? Will Tetsuya tell everyone why he **really **took the job at MBI? How will his Sekireis react if he does? Most importantly, why is Karasuba **really **there?


	10. Secrets and Lies

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright, I have finally decided who will be in Tetsuya's flock. It took a while, but I did it. It is for the most part set in stone, if you wish to find out who will be in it PM me and let me know. I have decide to tamper heavily with Minato's flock, though he will most likely have many more than 6 Sekirei this time. I also have an idea for a future story that will involve several scrapped numbers. I would like to hear any OC ideas you guys have, PM me if your interested. Now fair warning, most of the scrapped numbers will not find Ashikabis, they will find love with normal humans in normal relationships, though a few will find love with each other. But, you didn't come here to hear about my new ideas, you came to see how things worked out with Tetsuya and Miya. Now let's find out.

Chapter 10- Secrets and Lies

Tetsuya looked at his mother, she looked like she was about to cry. Before he could say anything, she whirled around and stomped back into the house.

"Wait! Miya, come back!" Tetsuya called after her and followed her inside, he went inside and caught the sight of her dress disappearing into her room. Tetsuya followed her and just barely managed to slip inside before she could close the door.

"Get out, and take that MONSTER with you!" Miya said angrily as she turned to face him. Her hannya mask had appeared and had started to spit fire and hiss angrily. _Well that's new, _Tetsuya thought. If he hadn't been totally immune to her famous hannya mask stare, Tetsuya would've been scared it would try to eat him.

"Wait, at least let me explain why I took the job!" Tetsuya pleaded.

"What could possibly justify you working for that madman? What did he offer you?" she spat angrily. She was livid. Her eyes were wide and had an accusatory stare. Her fists were clenched and her teeth were bared.. She looked furious, Tetsuya was mildly scared that she'd strike him. But he had to tell her why he did it, he couldn't let her think that he did it for money or some other stupid reason. He thought about lying to her, but he decided it would be better to tell her the truth.

"He-" Tetsuya began to say.

"What was it? Money? Power? Women?" she angrily said to him as tears began to run down her cheeks.

"MOM, HE THREATENED MY SEKIREI!" Tetsuya shouted, cutting her off.

"What?" she asked blankly after a while. Her son had tears running down his face and he looked ashamed.

"He said that if I turned the job down, he'd use the Jinki to terminate the girls." Tetsuya said unhappily. He was staring at the ground uncomfortably. He obviously hadn't told anyone else this, she noticed.

"But how could you wing, Karasuba? That women killed your father, my HUSBAND, she did everything but activate the Jinki that killed him." she said angrily.

"No, she didn't. Minaka did, HE messed around with the Jinki. HE put Dad in a position where he had to invert the Jinki's force field to save the Sekirei in the tower. Both Takami and Karasuba told me what happened that night. Dad saved the lives of countless Sekireis that day. Yes it was Karasuba's idea, but she didn't force Dad to do what he did. He chose to do it, Miya." Tetsuya choked

"That doesn't tell me why you did it!" Miya said her anger lessening slightly. Her son had a point though.

"I did it for the same reason that my father tried to be your Ashikabi. Because I believe, that even though I'm forced to work for that madman Minaka, with a woman that most of the world thinks is a monster. I believe that deep down, she is a good person. Perhaps very **very **deep down in Karasuba's case. But I do believe she's a good person, Miya." Tetsuya said with conviction.

"How dare you use him and I as an excuse for what you did? Your father and I are a totally different situation!" she said with venom in her voice as she gesticulated wildly.

"Are you? Think about it. When dad met you in the Disciplinary Squad, you were thought of by the world as the monstrously strong woman who defended Kamikura Island. You told me yourself that you had thought all humans were trash, an unnecessary race. The same way Karasuba does now. Can you honestly tell me that if he hadn't fallen in love with you or he had fallen for Karasuba instead, that you an her positions wouldn't be switched right now? Is it not entirely possible that Karasuba could have ended up with Takehito. Is it not totally possible that Karasuba could have ended up the lovely young innkeeper and you ended up as MBI's hound." Tetsuya said accusingly as he glared at her.

Miya opened her mouth to respond, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed her son was right. Hers and Takehito's meeting was totally by chance, their marriage even more so. If Takehito had fallen for Karasuba, their roles really could have been reversed. Yes Karasuba was more twisted than she had been while she was in the Disciplinary Squad. Though, the Black Sekirei had stayed with MBI for far longer than she had. She closed her mouth and all the anger seemed to to flow out of her body. Her shoulders sagged in defeat as she unclenched her fists and her arms hung limply at her side.

"Even if you are right, I'm sorry but I won't house Karasuba. I just can't bring myself to do it. And I'm not sure I'm okay with you staying here while you work for Minaka." she said as she turned away from him to adjust some flowers in a vase.

"You don't have to, I made it very clear when I winged her to avoid this house unless it was absolutely necessary, and come to think of it, I have no idea why she's here now. I'm gonna head outside and find out. As for me living here, I've taken that into account and we'll hammer the rest of this out once I find out why Karasuba's here." he said as he turned to leave. As he turned to leave, she grabbed his forearm. She was looking down at the floor.

"I know this sounds terrible, but some people are beyond fixing Tetsuya. Remember that." she said as she continued to look at the ground.

"I think dad would disagree." he said as he stepped out into the hallway, only to see that the house appeared completely deserted. At the same time, Miya noticed the duck that normally sat on her nightstand was gone.

"Tetsuya, have you seen my duck?" she called out.

"The duck who tells you people's secrets?"" Tetsuya called back. He was very familiar with said duck. It had gotten Toyotama in trouble more times than he could count.

"Yes." she said uncertainly. That duck was an invention of Matsu's that automatically picked up on people's conversations and transmitted them through it's speaker.

"Where did you last leave it?" he asked as he poked his head back in. Miya wracked her brain to remember where she had seen it last. When suddenly she sat bolt upright.

"I left it in the bathroom." she said suddenly.

"Oh, damn it!" said Tetsuya as he realized exactly what had disturbed Miya, anyone in the house could use it to listen in, and he hadn't wanted to tell anyone why he had really taken the job to avoid making his Sekireis feel guilty. If they heard why he'd taken it, they'd blame themselves and he didn't want that.

"GIRLS, COME HERE PLEASE." Tetsuya called out loudly as he stepped into the hall and looked down it to where the bathroom opened out into. Only to watch in horror as Toyotama and Uzume exited the bathroom. Uzume and Toyotama gingerly exited the bathroom, both looking like they had been caught in the process of doing something wrong. Someone tapped on his shoulder from behind he turned to see Akitsu, Haihane, Benitsubasa standing in the hall behind him. Benitsubasa looked like a child on Christmas morning, she was grinning excitedly from ear to ear, the girl was one song away from bursting into a musical number. Haihane looked embarrassed, she kept nudging Benitsubasa in the side and muttering to her to calm down. _Ah, that explains it, _thought Tetsuya. Akitsu was standing there looking as disinterested as usual. He turned back to face Uzume and Toyotama.

"Have you girls seen my mom's duck?" he asked calmly. Although his voice was calm as he said this a flaming oni mask appeared behind him. Uzume's and Toyotama's faces drained of color at the sight of the mask. Miya giggled, he certainly was Takehito's son.

"Which duck do you mean Tetsuya?" Uzume nervously.

"You know exactly which one I mean." he said

"We found it in the bathroom." said Toyotama guiltily.

"Toyotama! C'mon we swore not to tell." said Uzume, sounding like a 10-year old girl whose friend had broken a pinky promise.

"What's the use? They know already!" said Toyotama to her.

"I'll talk to you two later. But, I have business elsewhere. So we will talk later." said Tetsuya. He walked outside to see Karasuba standing in the yard. As he left he saw Miya's hannya mask begin to appear as she turned to face Uzume and Toyotama.

"Don't do any permanent damage mom." he called as he shut the door behind him. He turned to face the Black Sekirei, who had waited patiently in the front yard.

"Thanks for waiting Karasuba, and don't get me wrong I'm glad to see you. But, why are you here? There are still 14 unwinged Sekirei out and about." Tetsuya said as he remembered the data on the laptop that MBI had given him. It contained a list of winged and unwinged Sekirei that was updated as the unwinged ones found Ashikabis.

"Not since numbers 11,12,06, and 02 were winged today." Karasuba said. Tetsuya sighed, he hated when Karasuba called Sekireis by their numbers and not their names.

"C'mon Karasuba, we talked about this." he said exasperatedly.

"Sorry, not since Matsu, Homura, Hikari, and Hibiki were winged today. I forgot that you're so sensitive about that. That means the Second Stage is about to start and Minaka wants you back at the Tower ASAP." said Karasuba with chuckle. Tetsuya made a mental note to find out who had winged Matsu, he already had a fairly good guess who had winged Homura.

"Two things; first, tell Minaka he can bite me. Second, at least give me a day to say my goodbyes. It'll only be a day, I promise. Miya's about to kick me out anyways." he said pleadingly. Karasuba smirked.

"Fine, I'll tell Minaka. I'll see you tomorrow. I know I'm not welcome here." she said as she turned to leave. But before she could take a step, Tetsuya grabbed her from behind, spinning her around and gathering her into a hug. She just stood there in shock for a few moments trying to comprehend exactly what was happening.

"What are you doing?" she said blankly. She had not expected this. She stood there in his arms, still trying to wrap her head around what was happening, she had no idea how no react to this sudden gesture.

"Well the common name for it is a hug." Tetsuya said with a laugh, not letting go of her.

"I know what its called, I meant why are you doing it." she snapped. Tetsuya held her at arms length to get a better view of her face. She wore a look of irritated confusion.

"I just want you to know, I don't care what anyone, including my mom, says about you. I think you're a good person deep down. I meant it when I said it was good to see you. I missed you, I just want you to know that." he said as he kissed her forehead. And on that day, for the first time in living memory, Sekirei #04, Karasuba, the Black Sekirei, blushed. It lasted only a few seconds before it subsided and was replaced by her normal carefree, if somewhat cold demeanor. She gave an apathetic chuckle before saying,

"Whatever you say Tetsuya. I'll see you tomorrow." she said as she turned and walked away. _What was that feeling back there? If I didn't know better I'd say it was... No, it couldn't be... Could it?, _she thought as she headed back to MBI Tower, she had a lot to think about...

Tetsuya headed back inside to see Miya waiting for him.

"So? What did she want?" she asked severely.

"The Second Stage is about to start, so Minaka wants me to move into the tower tomorrow." said Tetsuya.

"Wait. Does this mean we work for MBI now?" he heard Hikari ask from behind him.

"No, I work for MBI, along with Benitsubasa, Haihane, and Karasuba. You girls will simply be tenants in the tower. If you're okay with it, that is." he said as he turned to face the twins, who were in the living room.

"Of course." Hibiki said as she took a sip from a teacup in front of her. They couldn't exactly complain, they had lost their MBI cards and were sharing a one bedroom apartment. At that moment, Kagari and Yukari walked in to the living room holding hands.

"He Miya, can I talk to you about something?" he asked her.

"Of course Kagari. Can the rest of you give us some space?" she asked as her hannya mask appeared again, nearly scaring Hikari and Hibiki to death.

"Of course, come on girls. I'll introduce you to everybody." Tetsuya said as he beckoned them upstairs. They went upstairs, where Tetsuya introduced Hikari and Hibiki to the rest of his Sekireis. After a few hours of hanging out Miya called them down to dinner.

They all went down and ate together, where Kagari announced he would be moving in with Yukari. Tetsuya pointed out that he better act the exact same at his new house as he does here. Seeing how Takami would take none too kindly to Kagari deflowering her daughter.

After dinner, Musubi and Benitsubasa went out into the backyard to spar, while Uzume took Haihane to her room to give her a makeover, insisting that the Indigo Sekirei desperately needed it. Yukari followed Kagari to help him pack up his things. Minato went to take a bath. Akitsu went off with Hibiki to show her some interesting books she had recently purchased, it appeared reading was one of many hobbies that the two girls shared. Hikari volunteered to go pack up the girls' things from their shared apartment to prepare for the imminent move to MBI Tower.

Tetsuya headed to his room to be alone. He had had a long day, one of many in the past month since he had winged Uzume. He began to undress when he felt a pair of hands on his back, he turned to see Toyotama kneeling on the floor behind him. He sighed,

"Toyotama, please, not tonight. I'm already in enough trouble today." he said tiredly.

"I'm not here to try anything." she said quietly as she began to massage his shoulders."I came to apologize."

Tetsuya turned around to look at her. She looked very sad, she was looking down at the floor. The usual feisty expression was gone, in its place sat a look of shame. Her usual energetic demeanor was gone she looked like the life had gone out of her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked into her blue eyes.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong." he said to her.

"But if it wasn't for us, you wouldn't have had to work for Minaka." she said quietly.

"Hey, listen to me. I don't care what I have to do to keep you or any of the other girls in my life, I wouldn't trade having known you for anything." he said.

"But you said-"

"I said I took the job because Minaka threatened you girls, you should have guessed from that fact that I would do anything for you girls, even work for Minaka." he said as he gathered her into a hug.

"You mean it?" she asked in a choked voice as she hugged him tightly.

"I do." he said as he sat back and kissed her gently on the lips. He went back to his duffel bag and finished changing into his pajamas, after which he laid down Toyotama stayed to keep him company, and Tetsuya spent the next hour getting know her better. She enjoyed fighting, though according to her, she also liked trying her hand and drawing and promised to show Tetsuya a few of her sketches at a later date.

After an hour and a half he dozed off, when Akitsu and Hibiki came to visit later they found him and Toyotama sound asleep. Benitsubasa and Haihane had taken off for the tower earlier that night. After a brief discussion with Miya, it was decided that Hikari and Hibiki would spend the night in Kagari's old room. The man had packed up his things a few hours earlier and headed to Yukari's apartment. He had only had a few boxes, the man owned very little other than clothes. In the morning Tetsuya packed his things and headed off towards the tower in the center of the city with his Sekirei. All of them ready to begin a new chapter of their lives. Tetsuya didn't care what he had to do or where he had to go, as long as he got to stay with all of them.

_On a nearby rooftop..._

Yume watched as the boy took off on his motorcycle for MBI headquarters. _He certainly cares for all of them. It definitely explains why I'm reacting to him, _she thought. She would definitely need to meet with him soon, but for now she was content to watch...

_At MBI Tower..._

Tetsuya got off the elevator at the floor the receptionist had indicated. It looked like a penthouse, it was expensively furnished, with a full stocked kitchen, with 3 separate bathrooms, including the master bath. There were several small apartments that joined with the larger central area, with a door that led to what looked like a pool. Tetsuya headed to the master bedroom and set his duffel bag and backpack on the bed and headed back into the main area which contained a kitchen, living room, and dining room. All of them large enough to hold him and all his Sekireis and even a few extra guests. He turned to see a woman step off the elevator and walk over to him, she wordlessly handed him an envelope and returned to the elevator and disappeared.

"What have you got there?" asked Uzume asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind him and set her chin on his shoulder. Tetsuya opened the envelope and scanned the contents silently.

"It's a message from Hayato Mikogami of the South. He wants to meet with me to discuss... it doesn't say what he wants to discuss." Tetsuya said quizically.

"Well that's odd. What do you think he wants?" said Uzume as she grabbed the letter from his hand and scanned it.

"Nothing good I bet." Tetsuya said seriously...

_Somewhere in the East sector of Shintou Teitou..._

"Here is your target, you know what to do." said Kakizaki. The woman wordlessly took the photo from the desk and exited the office.

"Can we trust her Higa?" the man asked his employer.

"It doesn't matter, worst case scenario is she dies and we are one competitor closer to the goal. Besides that boy needs to learn what happens when you toy with Higa Izumi." said the man as he looked out the panoramic window behind his desk.

"He will pay dearly for what he has done. No one treats me like that and gets away with it, certainly not after stealing from me." Higa said, as he rubbed the bandages that were reminders of just how dangerous Tetsuya Asama was...

AN: Alrighty guys, who did Higa send after Tetsuya? Will Miya be proven right about Karasuba? Or Will Tetsuya teach her what Yume tried to all those years ago? How will Tetsuya and his flock adjust to their new lives at MBI? What does Mikogami want with Tetsuya? Find out in the next chapter. Also form this point on, BEWARE OF INCOMING CITRUS FRUIT! Future chapters are likely to contain lemons, rating will be changed to M to accommodate new content.


	11. New Job,New Home,New Life, Same Old Song

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Sorry in advance for the delay. My friends and I have been making plans to attend Anime Central this year, and it's taking up a lot of my time. Again, I have a complete flock list for anyone interested just PM me and ask for it and I'll tell you. On a different note, as of Chapter 10, my views for this story are OVER 9000! Now, let's see how Tetsuya and his flock are adjusting to their new life at MBI...

IMPORTANT: SLIGHT LEMONS IN THIS CHAPTER! You'll understand why I say slight later in the chapter.

Chapter 11- New Job, New Home, New Life, Same Old Song and Dance...

Tetsuya spent the next few hours familiarizing himself with his new home and helping his Sekireis set up their rooms. The kitchen and living room that the lift opened out to was only the beginning, the floor also contained a full library, something that had delighted Akitsu and Hibiki to no end. It also contained a gym that was custom made to allow Sekireis to train in it, along with what Tetsuya could only guess was supposed to be his office, as well as recreational facilities of varying types.

When Tetsuya had volunteered to help the girls set up their rooms Uzume's room had taken a while to finish, the girl had box after box of outfits and supplies to make them. And as it turned out, Hikari was quite the gamer and Tetsuya spent an hour and half helping her connect all her game systems in one of the media rooms on the floor. Benitsubasa and Haihane had insisted that they could get a person from maintenance to help set up the game systems, but Tetsuya had insisted on doing it. He had enjoyed the excuse to spend time with Hikari. After that, he helped Toyotama set up her room, she needed help setting up some posters she hadn't had room for at the Inn.

He exited her room to see that Akitsu and Hibiki had made lunch for everyone, though strangely enough Haihane and Benitsubasa were absent, as was Karasuba. Karasuba being absent wasn't strange, the Black Sekirei seemed to prefer being alone. But Haihane had formed a fast friendship with Uzume in their short time together, while Benitsubasa seemed to have taken a liking to Toyotama.

"Hey Akitsu have you seen Benitsubasa and Haihane?" Tetsuya asked. Akitsu shook her head quietly.

"I think they're in the gym." said Hibiki, nodding toward the door that led to the full workout gym. It struck Tetsuya once again just how gargantuan the tower was. Apparently stolen alien technology was quite profitable it seemed.

"Alright, thanks Hibiki." he said as he walked up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek. She blushed and gave him a small smile. He smiled back at her and decided to go look for Benitsubasa and Haihane.

He turned and headed through the pool room and walked over to the door that led to the gym, He opened the door and poked his head inside an looked around. The gym looked empty until he saw Karasuba on a mat at the far end of the large room. She was on a large mat with a wooden nodachi and appeared to be practicing with it. He stepped inside and walked over toward her until he was about 10 yards away where he stopped and leaned casually against the wall. He could tell she was almost if not just as good as Miya was. He watched for a few minutes as Karasuba practiced her swordsmanship until she stopped suddenly,

"Did you come here for a reason?" she asked without turning around.

"Well I **was **looking for Haihane and Benitsubasa. But I saw you in here and I thought I'd say hi." he said as he walked up behind her. She turned to face him,

"Well you said hi, now you can go. Or was there something else you wanted" she said as she turned to face him.

"Well, now that you mention it, I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a sword." he said with a grin. As soon as he asked this Karasuba's eye widened and she burst out laughing.

"Why do you wanna learn how to use a sword? You're an Ashikabi, you have no place on the battlefield! Hell, you'd only be in the way!" she said cruelly as she laughed. Tetsuya blushed and looked away in response to Karasuba's barb. When Karasuba saw his reaction to her remark she reached out and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey look, I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." she said in a tone that Tetsuya could swear was genuinely sincere."But in all seriousness, why **do **you wanna learn how to use a sword?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" he asked as he looked up from the floor at her face.

"Sure, if you want to." she said with a shrug. Tetsuya walked over to the wall and leaned against it with a sigh.

"When Uzume and Akitsu got into a fight with Oriha and Katsuragi, I felt so powerless and scared that I'd lose them forever and I know that that's a risk that every Ashikabi takes when he wings a Sekirei. But even though I've got more Sekirei now. I don't ever wanna feel that way again. I know that as an Ashikabi it's not my place to be the one on the battlefield. But I know that I'm strong enough to be one of the ones on the battlefield, and on another note there's no one I'd rather learn from than you, you've been doing this longer than anyone." he said

"Plus, any excuse to turn Minaka's rules on their head is a good thing to me." he added casually. Karasuba chuckled in response to his speech.

"Alright, grab a sword." she said as she pointed to a rack of wooden swords on the wall. Tetsuya walked over and picked up a nodachi off the wall.

"Alright let's start with the basics" Karasuba said as she took a basic offensive stance...

_Later that night..._

Tetsuya sat in the bath alone, enjoying the feel of the hot water on his aching muscles. He had spent until 8PM that day practicing with Karasuba. He was more sore than he'd been in a long time. Karasuba was a brutal instructor, she hadn't let up on him for a second during his training. Though it was hard, Karasuba said he was a natural at it. Considering his parentage, it wasn't unexpected. Though he was still nowhere near his mother or Karasuba's level, he no longer felt as powerless as he had earlier. He would keep pushing himself until he was strong enough to defend his Sekireis, it wasn't fair that they had to fight alone.

Tetsuya was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of someone else entering the bathroom. He turned to see Uzume standing behind him.

"Hey Uzume, care to join me?" he asked as he turned to face her.

"Sure thing. Where were you today? Nobody saw you after you went off to look for Benitsubasa and Haihane." she said as she sat down in the water beside him.

"I spent the day with Karasuba, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't mean to worry you." he said apologetically as Uzume started to wash her hair.

"It's alright. So how did it go?" she asked.

"It was fine. But I occurs to me that you and I haven't had much time to hang out in recent weeks. I'm sorry about that, you know I try to give all of you the same amount of time." he said as she turned to face him.

"It's okay, I know you've been busy and I know your doing your best." she said as she got out and took a seat on one of the stools by one of the shower heads in the bath.

"Hey can you wash my back?" she said as she looked over her shoulder at him. He nodded and and got out and pulled a stool over and poured some soap from a bottle into his hand.

"Hey I just realized something." she said as he began to rub the soap on her shoulders.

"Oh yeah?" he asked as he began to move his hand lower. With the other he gently traced her Sekirei crest, his delicate touch sending shivers down her spine.

"You know Miya's not here.." she purred as he continued to rub soap on her back her back. This obvious advance made a slight whistling sound as it flew over Tetsuya's tired head.

"I'm well aware of that Uzume." he said as he washed the soap off her back. She turned around and leaned in close to his ear.

"I'm saying that we can do things here that we couldn't do at the Inn." she purred seductively in his ear as she started to rub his thigh.

"Oh. Oh!" Tetsuya exclaimed as he realized exactly what she meant.

"Finally get what I mean?" she asked with a giggle.

"If you mean having sex, then yes I do." he said as he began to blush. He hadn't expected her to be so forward about it.

"So c'mon, you wanna give it a try?" she said as she kissed his neck

"Alright, but not here, meet me in my room in half an hour." he said as he got up.

"It's a date." she said gleefully as she stood up and kissed him on the mouth, wrapping her arms up under his own and ran her hands through his long hair. She had always loved guys with long hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss, enjoying the sight of her beautiful wings spreading out behind her. Her lips parted and their tongues began to dance around each other. She broke the kiss and leaned up next to his ear.

"Until later, my love." she whispered breathily in his ear. Tetsuya was taken aback at Uzume's sudden shift in personality. He had never seen this side of her, then again Miya had never given him the chance to let him get to know her as well as he wanted.

"What's with the fancy language?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I was trying to be romantic. I want our first time to be special, I want it to be a night we'll both remember forever." she said earnestly. Tetsuya smiled warmly,

"Uzume, any day with you is special. I will remember every day with you for the rest of my life." he said kindly. Uzume blushed and looked away, suddenly shy for some reason.

"You really mean that?" she said as she looked back up into his steel-gray eyes.

"I do. I'm going to go get ready." he said gently as he pulled away and headed to his room. He toweled himself off and put on a pair of boxers and pajama bottoms and waited patiently for Uzume to arrive.

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on his door and he opened the door to see Uzume standing there in a bathrobe. He took her hand and gently pulled her inside, closing the door behind her. Once she was inside she untied the bathrobe and let it silently fall to the ground, underneath the robe she wore only a white silk teddy that strained to cover her well-endowed chest, she took his hand and led him to the bed wordlessly. He leaned down and put one knee on the bed and kissed Uzume with all the love he hadn't had the chance to show her in recent weeks. The room filled with light as her wings appeared and she felt the familiar rush of heat that accompanied his kisses. His heart was pounding, he had never wanted anything as much as he wanted her right now. With one hand he held himself up and with the other he gently caressed Uzume's thigh, eliciting a small moan from her.

He moved onto the bed and removed her white teddy, exposing her impressive chest. She took his hand from her thigh and moved it onto her breast, on instinct he gave it a firm yet gentle squeeze, eliciting slightly deeper moan from Uzume. She reached up and moved to remove his pants, when suddenly it stuck him exactly what he was doing and how it would affect the others if he continued.

"Wait." he said as he grabbed her wrist to stop her from removing his pants.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as she looked up to see his face, he looked deeply troubled.

"I can't do this Uzume, it'd feel too much like I was cheating on the others." he said without looking at her.

"Tetsuya, it's fine. We are all your Sekirei, you can love each of us without being unfaithful. Yes, all of us will love only you, but we understand that for you there are others. I myself am fine with that, I don't want to take your love from them, I only want to show you how much I love you. There's nothing wrong with what we're doing right now." she said as she cradled his face in her hands. He looked into her brown eyes and she could tell he wasn't in his normal state of mind.

"It's fine, if you're uncomfortable with doing this I can wait. Tomorrow we'll sit down with the rest of them and talk out exactly how we're going to work this out." she said to him.

"I'm not looking forward to it, but I think that would be best." he said as he sat down on the bed next to her.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" she said as she sat up and laid her head against his shoulder. He nodded wordlessly.

"Alright. I'll stay. I know you're going through a tough time right now, and I want to help however I can." she said.

"I appreciate the sentiment Uzume, but I think this is my cross alone to bear." he said somberly.

"Come on, let's go to bed." she said as she got up and got under the covers. Tetsuya walked around to the other side and slipped under the covers next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and drifted off to sleep...

Minato

Minato was on the way back to the Inn, he had agreed to go on a last minute shopping trip to pick up some ingredients that Musubi had forgotten earlier. He rounded a corner, only to run in to someone who was also rounding the corner which caused him to drop the bags he was carrying.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." he said apologetically as he looked at who he had run into, it was a young girl with light brown hair with blue ribbons woven in and grey eyes. She was wearing a white gown that went down to her thighs and black stockings.

"No, no, it's alright I should have watched where I was going." she said as she bent down and picked up the bags and handed them back to him.

"So what's your name?" he asked as he took the bags from her.

"I'm number 84, Yashima." she said with a smile.

"Oh, what are you doing out so late? Shouldn't you be with your Ashikabi?" he asked

"I don't have an Ashikabi anymore, and I forgot my card at his house and I can't go back to get it." she said unhappily as she looked down at the ground.

"Where are you staying then?" he asked worriedly, a girl like this shouldn't be out on her own.

"I don't have anywhere to stay I've been sleeping in the park." she said quietly.

"Well we can't have that, come on I'll take you to where I'm staying and you can stay there till we find somewhere for you to live." he said earnestly. As he said this her eyes lit up with happiness.

"Alright!" she said, practically bouncing with excitement as she followed him to her new home...

Kagari

He walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the feel of Yukari's hand in his. He loved her so much, he had thought he would never find an Ashikabi. Now that he had, he was never going to let her go.

He looked up just in time to pull Yukari back, a few milliseconds later a whip crashed into the ground where they had been heading, leaving a small crater in the ground, at the same time something plowed into him from behind sending him tumbling to the ground with Yukari. He got up off the ground and saw a young man average height and slim build with messy silver hair and grey eyes laying in a heap with him and Yukari. He recognized the boy as No. 107, Shiina, the Death Sekirei. He looked up to see the wielder of the whip, No. 38, Mitsuha.

"Yukari, take Shiina and get back to the apartment. I'm going to take care of this pest." he said seriously as he ignited a firball in his hand.

"Who's Shiina?" she asked, sounding confused.

"I- I am." the boy said meekly as he raised his hand.

Yukari nodded and grabbed his hand and turned to run away, but then thought better of it. She turned an hurried back to him.

"A kiss, for luck." she said as she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the mouth, causing his wings of flame to appear.

"Oh you're screwed now." he said with a grin as Yukari grabbed Shiina's hand and took off at a run back to their apartment.

"These are the flames of my pledge, burn the karma of my Ashikabi." he said, activating his norito.

"Wait! I have no quarrel with you! I was only after 107!" she exclaimed fearfully.

"But I have quarrel with you , I still guard the unwinged Sekirei. You also almost harmed my Ashikabi, now you're going to pay! SNAKE FIRE!" he shouted angrily as he sent a snake composed of white fire soaring straight at her.

She turned and ran away as fast as she could. She was more scared of an angry Homura than whatever punishment her master would inflict on her for failing...

Tetsuya

"Get up! Mr Minaka wants to see you." said a high pitched, girly voice form his bedside.

Tetsuya opened his eyes to see a dark skinned, red-haired girl clad in a bikini top with what appeared to be a long loincloth and long white gloves and stockings standing beside his bed.

"Who are you?" he asked without getting up.

"I'm No. 55, Saki." she said in a friendly tone.

"Alright Saki, with all due respect, get the hell out of my bedroom." he said as he buried his head in his pillow. When suddenly, he felt her grab him by his waistband and yank him out of bed, he landed on the ground with a thud.

"Alright, your lightning fast tongue and rapier wit have convinced me. Now if you'd be so kind as to leave while I dress." he said as he stood up.

"Okay." she said as she headed out the door to the kitchen, he followed to the door and locked it behind her and headed back to his bed and fell onto the mattress with a soft thump and went back to sleep. A few minutes later he heard the lock on the door click, followed by footsteps. He felt himself once again hoisted by the waistband and dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

"You're not gonna let this go are you?" he complained looking up at the girl.

"Nope." she said in an oddly chipper tone.

"Fine, leave and I'll dress." he said as he got to his feet.

"I'm not falling for that again, you can dress in front of me." she said defiantly as she crossed her arms.

"Fine, remember you wanted this." he said, his eyes narrowing. He reached down and removed his pants and underwear in one smooth motion. Saki glanced down at his nether regions, then back up at his face.

"Impressed?" he asked in a cocky tone.

"A little." she said impassively.

"Thank you." he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. At that moment Uzume emerged from the bathroom, clothed only in a towel.

"What's goin' on here, Tetsuya?" she asked as she noticed the strange woman and her naked Ashikabi. Tetsuya loved how she never jumped to conclusions.

"Minaka sent her to pick me up." he said

"Why are you naked though?" she asked.

"Trying to startle her into leaving." he said flatly.

"Ah, okay. Well have fun." she said as she walked over and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey, sorry about last night." he said as she began to leave.

"It's alright. I know your stressed and I'm more than willing to wait, if that's what it takes." she said with a warm smile.

"I love you so much right now." he said with a grin.

"I love you too, Tetsuya." she said as she blew him a kiss and headed back to her room.

After that Tetsuya got dressed and rode the elevator up to the top floor of the tower, once they reached the top they stepped out into Minaka's office where Saki escorted him up to Minaka's massive desk. Minaka sat in the chair facing the large window behind his desk.

"Chairman Minaka, I have brought him as you have requested." she said in a business-like tone.

"Thank you Saki, leave us now." Minaka said as he swiveled to face Tetsuya. Saki nodded and turned and headed back to the elevator.

"How do you like your new housing? I hope you are not finding it lacking in any regard." Minaka asked in a friendly tone.

"I can't complain." Tetsuya said with a shrug, not mentioning the fact that he was three seconds away from borrowing Karasuba's sword and running the madman through.

"Alright, good to hear. Now, down to business, you will need to dress more formally if you're working here. Here is your company expense account card and ID. I expect you to find yourself a suit after reporting to Takami for a physical exam. She is on the 68th floor." he said as he slid two cards across the table to Tetsuya. Tetsuya wordlessly pocketed them.

"Will that be all?" he asked, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"No, if your Sekireis are going to live here, I expect them to be of use. I cannot let the game grow stagnant, I expect them to serve in the squad as-" he began, when suddenly there was thunderous bang as Tetsuya slammed a fist onto the desk.

"No." he said simply though his voice was filled with malice as he said it.

"Don't forget our arrangement, you have to do as I say." said Minaka calmly.

"I WILL NOT FORCE THEM INTO THE SERVITUDE OF A MADMAN!" Tetsuya roared furiously.

"Then I will terminate them all." Minaka said simply.

"Wait!" Tetsuya interjected, he hesitated and a few seconds later his shoulders slumped as he said,

"I will **ask** them if they wish to serve on the squad after I finish the physical and find a suit and I will get back to you tomorrow with their answer." Tetsuya said, obviously defeated.

"That is acceptable. I expect you will get more volunteers than you expect." Minaka said confidently.

"Why do you say that?" Tetsuya asked, curious to hear why the man was so confident.

"Because, I doubt that any of your Sekireis trust Karasuba and the others to keep you safe." Minaka said confidently. Tetsuya had no response to this. After a minute of silence, Minaka said,

"You may go now." Minaka said as he made a shooing motion with his hand.

Tetsuya headed back to the elevator and rode it down to floor where Takami was stationed for he physical. An hour later he rode the elevator back to the floor he shared with his Sekireis. He walked in to the living room to see Toyotama and Haihane were watching TV. Hibiki and Akitsu were reading books on one of the other couches in the room, Karasuba and Benitsubasa were probably in the gym. He didn't know where Hikari or Uzume were.

"Hey girls I'm gonna go out for a few hours I'll be back later. When I get back there are a few things we need to discuss." he said.

Akitsu and Hibiki looked up form their books. Toyotama and Haihane appeared engrossed in what was going on on the television.

"May I come with you, Tetsuya?" Akitsu asked with a hint of eagerness in her voice. Tetsuya walked over and took a seat between her and Hibiki.

"Girls, you know I love you all, right?" he said as he placed a hand on each of their knees, trying to reassure them. They both nodded in unison.

"Alright, I'd love for you to come with me, but I have a few things to think about and I just need some space. I know things have been hectic lately, but I promise soon we are going to have a lot more time to spend together, until then I have to ask you all to be patient with me." he said sincerely.

"Is it something we did?" Akitsu asked quietly. Tetsuya gathered his second Sekirei into a hug.

"No it's not Akitsu, I could never be mad at any of you. It's Minaka's fault. Now I have to go but I'll be back soon." he said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. He turned and kissed Hibiki on the cheek and walked over and gave Haihane and Toyotama kisses goodbye. He would've gone to find the others, but considering the size of this place, that could take hours. So he headed back to the elevator. And rode it down, he wished he could've taken Uzume, she would've had a field day with this.

_A few hours later..._

He stood outside the tailor shop as the cars from MBI arrived to pick up the incredibly large amount of suits he had purchased. He smiled, this was gonna cost Minaka a pretty penny. He sighed, he was not looking forward to the next few days, what with the two uncomfortable talks he had to have with his Sekireis and the meeting with Mikogami in 5 days. He decided to head back to the tower and began walking down the sidewalk towards the tower. He had only made it a few blocks when a sudden gust of wind blew his hair across his eyes, when he had cleared his vision he saw a woman with long dark hair wearing a very short purple Chinese dress which showed off her cleavage and belly button. Her breasts were so big, Tetsuya bet they would've still had snow on them in the summer.(Heyo!) She looked very sad as she looked up at him.

"Prepare to die, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry." she said sadly.

She gestured toward him and Tetsuya felt a powerful gust of wind slam him into the wall behind him. He collided with the wall and slid to the ground. He tasted blood in his mouth. His vision began to blur as she began to walk toward him, he knew this feeling, he was going to pass out soon. He caught sight of another figure in black appear from above and slam a fist into the ground leaving a crater where it impacted, the woman in the dress just narrowly avoided the blow. The other figure began to attack the woman in the dress until she disappeared in a whirlwind of flower petals, after she disappeared he saw the other figure run over to him and lean down to help him up, that was the last thing he saw before his vision went dark...

_Back at MBI headquarters..._

Takami rushed towards Minaka's desk holding the results of Tetsuya's physical in a manilla folder.

"Minaka, you need to see this." she said urgently as she threw the folder on the desk.

"What's this Takami?" he said as he picked up the folder and flipped through it's contents.

"It's Tetsuya's physical as well as the result of the examination of 104 and 105 we did yesterday." she said.

"Why does this concern the Game Master Takami?" he asked lazily. When suddenly he reached the part Takami had known would interest him, his face became pale and Takami could swear he was starting to sweat.

"This means..." he said nervously.

"That's right, his Sekirei are protected from the effects the Jinki after he wings them. We would need all 8 to terminate any of his Sekirei, and in case you forgot we're missing one of them. Minaka, we are employing a very pissed off teenager, who doesn't know we have absolutely no real leverage over him. Minaka, you better keep this kid happy or it'll be the death of you."

"Does he know?" he asked nervously. For the first time on his life, Minaka felt something that could be considered fear, without all the Jinki he had no way to leverage Tetsuya, the boy had no friends he could threaten and his only family was more than capable of killing Minaka herself.

"Of course not, no one but you or me knows this." she said confidently, totally unaware that No. 55 was hidden in a vent directly above her head. _Well, this is interesting, I wonder what Tetsuya would do for this piece of info, _Saki thought to herself.

"Doesn't he have an uncle though?" Minaka asked, suddenly realized he hadn't lost all of his hold on the boy.

"He does." Takami answered plainly.

"Start surveillance on him, contact number 57 and have her tail him. She always does good work, and above all make sure Tetsuya never learns what you told me." he said as he swiveled to face the window. This was unsettling to the Game Master, he needed more leverage on Tetsuya and quickly...

AN: Who saved Tetsuya? Will Saki tell him what she heard? Will Seo find out he's being watched? How will things between Yashima and Minato turn out? How will Homura adapt to a possibly new man in Yukari's life? Alright I know I didn't cover his meeting with Mikogami, rest assured that's still happening, I just didn't have room to include it. Until next time, my readers.


	12. Connections Both Old And New

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: I broke 5 digits with this last chapter update. Though I implore you all to review whenever you read a chapter I find it much easier to find inspiration when I receive more feedback. Also, still feel free to pm me with ideas or questions. Also, I am considering changing the name of this story to Number 01's Son. More on that later. Remember that I'm more than happy to help on any stories any of you might have if you want help, just ask and I'll do my best to help.

Chapter 12- Connections Both Old And New

Tetsuya's eyes fluttered open, he couldn't tell where he was. It certainly wasn't the sidewalk he'd passed out on after being attacked by that Sekirei woman. All he knew was that he hurt. Everywhere. He was laying down on a bed, he could tell he was covered in bandages. There was a door to his right. He looked around the room trying to figure out why it looked familiar, though his brain was still foggy from sleep. He tried to sit up to get a better view and made it about halfway before a jolt of agony shot through his back, he clutched his hand to his side as he tumbled off the left side bed and onto the floor. He landed on the floor with a thud, his impact sending searing lines of agony shooting across his entire body.

He gasped in pain as he hit the floor. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as hard as he could and began to breath deeply, trying to breathe through the pain. He heard someone running toward the door, he heard the door open and someone enter and run around to the other side of the bed where he lay gasping on the floor. He felt a pair of arms reach underneath his own and gently lift him back up on to the bed.

"Did you hurt yourself?" he heard the person ask from beside him.

"No additional damage done." he gasped as he turned to look at his rescuer. He looked up into the concerned face of his mother, Miya Asama.

"Mom! What are doing here? Come to think of it, where is here? How did I get here?" he exclaimed, sounding surprised.

"Tetsuya calm down, you're at the Inn, you're in my room. You were hurt by Kazehana when she attacked you. Thank Gods she didn't have time to finish before #08 intervened, she picked you up and carried you here. You've been here, unconscious for a day. You were hurt pretty badly, I bandaged you up and took care of you while you slept." she explained calmly.

"Wait, wait, wait, how could #08 have saved me? The MBI database on my laptop indicates she's dead. She gave her core to save one of your current tenants, Musubi." Tetsuya said as he tried to wrap his head around what had happened. He'd been gone for a day? Buddha, the girls must be worried sick, like things with them weren't complicated enough, he thought tiredly.

"Well you can thank your father for that one. He managed to find a way to repair Musubi's core and managed to give me back my core, all just hours before he died." he heard a voice say from behind him. He turned to face the source of the voice.

Behind him, a woman stood in the doorway of the room, the woman was the spitting image of Musubi, the only difference was that her breasts were considerably smaller. She wore the same outfit that Karasuba did, it was the uniform of the Disciplinary Squad, a tight black leather top, a pair of black gloves with a miniskirt and stockings. Over her shoulders she was wearing a gray cape with the Sekirei Crest printed on it. Tetsuya noticed that her black gloves had the the number 08 printed on them.

"Can you give us a minute, Number 01?" Yume asked calmly. Miya turned to look at Tetsuya questioningly, he shrugged noncommittally, he personally had no idea what was going on, though he was eager to find out. Miya nodded and quietly left the room. Yume walked over and sat down beside him on the bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she turned to look at him.

"I hurt everywhere, but it could be worse. Thanks for saving me. Though I must say I'm never leaving the tower by myself again." he said gratefully.

"You're welcome. I'm just glad I got there in time. I don't know why #03 attacked you though." she said with a sigh. Tetsuya noticed that as she got closer to him the base of his neck began to burn, he knew the familiar sensation that told him when a Sekirei was reacting to him.

"I bet I do. Izumi Higa, the dude's been after me for a while." he said grimly.

"I've noticed. It seems your winging #16 upset him quite a lot." she said.

"Her name's Toyotama. Wait, hold the phone. How do you know that?" he said suspiciously as he whirled to face her but half way through the turn his back twinged and he doubled over in pain. Yume put her arms around him as he clutched at his back.

"Be careful, Kazehana did a number on you, don't overexert yourself or you risk causing further damage." she said worriedly.

"That doesn't answer my question. How did you know about that. I doubt he sent you to finish the job or else you wouldn't have stopped Kazehana. So how do you know? Who do you work for?" he demanded, still doubled over in pain.

"I've been watching you for the past couple of weeks. I saw what you did for number 84. May I ask why you did it?" she asked as Tetsuya sat up slowly. He was breathing heavily.

"I did it because no woman, especially a Sekirei, deserves the way he treated her. I did it because seeing the way he treated her was the last straw. I'm sick of seeing the Sekirei treated like objects by so many people, and I'm sick of being part of a game that pits them against each other. I'd like to think that if my father was alive he would've stopped this from happening." he said angrily. In response to his comment, Yume smiled and reached around him and gently hugged him, careful not to cause him any pain. Tetsuya sat there awkwardly for a few seconds as the Sekirei of Fate hugged him. After a few seconds she released him and pulled away.

"Are you saying that if you won the plan, you would save all the little birds? You would let them be with the ones they love forever?" she asked as she looked at him. Tetsuya could tell that his answer to these questions were important to her.

"Yeah, I guess I am. I mean there's no good reason that only the winner should be allowed to be with the ones they love." he said with a smile. Yume smiled at him as he said this.

"Then I believe we have a common goal, I detest Minaka's game as much as you do. If you let me, I'll help you to win the game and save the Sekirei." she said as she stood up and turned around to face him.

"Well, I commend you for finding out what kind of man I was before agreeing to let me wing you. I must say, you hid the fact that you were reacting to me quite well, you're not blushing or anything." he said confidently as he shakily got to his feet. Yume looked taken aback at his sudden change in attitude and his knowledge of her reaction to him.

"How did you know?" she asked calmly as she regained her composure.

"I get a burning sensation at the base of my neck, right where a Sekirei crest would be if I had one, it started happening right after I winged Toyotama and I met the Disciplinary Squad. I didn't figure out what it meant until I met Hikari and Hibiki." he said as he reached over to the bedside table and picked up his phone, he turned it on to see he had 46 missed calls. He groaned, the girls must be worried sick. He started to look at his missed call logs, he smiled when he saw that 5 were from Karasuba. He hadn't thought she cared that much. He turned his phone off and turned to face her.

"So will you allow me to help you win the game and free the Sekirei? I'd like to add that I know it sounds like I'm only using you as a means to further my own agenda. But I want you to know, I want you as my Ashikabi because I believe you are one of the best people I have ever met and I love how you always put your Sekireis' happiness above your own" she said as she put her hands on his chest and stood on tiptoe until she was only a hair's breadth from his lips, she was careful not to hurt him as she did this.

She was trying her best not to kiss him without permission, but she wouldn't be able to resist for much longer. Now that she was close to him, the effect he had on her was intensified. Her body was on fire and she felt like she couldn't catch her breath no matter how deeply she breathed, and that was saying nothing of what he was doing to her nether regions. There was a tingling sensation between her legs. Though she didn't know it, she had began to grind her crotch against his own.

"Yume, what are you doing? If we try to do that, my mom will be back to finish what Kazehana started." he said as he grabbed her by the shoulders an gently moved her back a few steps. She blushed and looked away, acting very much like Musubi for an instant.

"I'm sorry, it's just... I don't know what came over me, I apologize for my behavior." she said shyly as she fidgeted in front of him.

"It's okay, and as for your offer. How's this for an answer?" he said to her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled he close to him until she was pressed against his bandaged chest and leaned down to kiss her, stopping a few centimeters for her lips.

"Are you sure you want this?" he asked in whisper.

"Positive." she said as she reached up and pulled him into his passionate kiss and wrapped one arm around his waist and pulled him against her as she began to grind against him again as a wonderful heat filled her body and she felt her wings sprout from her back and her crest materialized on her stomach. Tetsuya watched in awe as her wings appeared from her back, they were a white color with pink at the edges, they were beautiful beyond words, but then again, he thought that of all his Sekireis' wings. She pulled him closer to her and began to kiss him more urgently. Suddenly he gasped in pain.

"Yume, you're squeezing too hard." he gasped. She released him quickly as soon as she did he bent over in pain and tried to breathe through the pain. As soon as he was feeling okay he stood up and grinned at her.

"Worth it." he said with a grin. She gave him a smile and said,

"I know." she said.

"Alright, I didn't ask earlier 'cuz I didn't wanna ruin the mood. But can you help me change the bandages I've been sweating in them and I feel grody." he asked. When suddenly he heard a voice from behind him say.

"I can help with that. We wouldn't want you two getting any ideas, would we?" he heard his mom say and he **felt **the hannya mask she loved so much materialize behind him. He turned to face her noticing that as he did that Yume seemed completely unfazed by the mask. They both watched in silence as Miya looked between them, he could practically see his mother thinking that she was losing her touch, after a few seconds the mask disappeared and Yume turned to look at him,

"I'll wait outside, I'll see you later Tetsuya." she said as she hugged him and walked out the door.

Tetsuya sat down on the bed and began to unwind the bandages from his arms he felt Miya take a seat behind him and start to remove the ones from his chest. After a while he said,

"Hey mom, thanks for taking care of me. I know you didn't have to, but thanks and I want you to know that I know I've only been gone a few days, but I missed you. A lot." he said without turning around to face her. After he finished talking he he felt Miya's arms wrap around his chest and gently hug him.

"Tetsuya, don't be silly. You're my son and I love you and I don't care who you work for or who you wing or love. I will always be there for you if you need help. You may not live here but **you **are always welcome here when you need help." she said kindly to him. He smiled and said,

"Thanks mom, that means a lot to me."

After that Miya and he finished changing his bandages and he headed outside and called their floor at Teitou tower, and after a few rings he heard someone pick up.

"Hello." he heard Akitsu say in her usual manner.

"Hey Akitsu, its Tetsuya. Hey, I'm at Izumo Inn, I was attacked by a Sekirei yesterday and spent the last day unconscious at the Inn. I'm on my way home, I'm sorry if I worried you girls. I'll be home soon." after he finished saying this he heard Miya ask from the front door.

"Tetsuya, are you staying for lunch?"

"If I do, can the girls- minus you-know-who come; seeing as how she doesn't wanna come anyways?" he called back as he held the phone to his shoulder so Akitsu wouldn't overhear.

"Of course." she said with a giggle.

"Hey Akitsu on second thought; I'm gonna stay for lunch do you or any of the others wanna come?"

"I'll ask the others but I'd like to come. We'll be there soon. I love you." she said.

"I love you too and Akitsu, I just want you to know I missed you. I missed you all." he said, trying not to get emotional.

"We missed you too." she said and Tetsuya could tell from her tone that she was smiling as she said it. After that he hung up and turned to see Yume standing behind him.

"Are you gonna stay for lunch, Yume? Most of my other Sekireis are gonna come I'm betting and I'm sure they'd love to meet you." he asked her.

"Alright, I'd love the chance to get to know them." she said with a smile. He moved to hug her when he heard his phone ring. He help up a finger and hit the answer button on his phone.

"Hello?" he asked

"Hey Tetsuya, it's Karasuba. Any idea why everybody's in such s hurry right now after you called everyone damn near jumped out the window trying to leave. Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. We're just gonna have lunch at my mom's house." he said

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll let you get back to that. I'm sure you're eager to." she said as she moved to hang up.

"Wait, Karasuba don't hang up!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, what is it?" she asked, obviously in a hurry to get off the phone.

"If it was cool with Miya, would you wanna come? I mean, I'm sure we're all gonna miss you if you don't come." he asked sheepishly.

He knew the Black Sekirei didn't like things like this, but he liked spending time with her. Even if she denied it, he was pretty sure she liked spending time with him too. That wasn't to say he didn't love spending time with all of them, but he never had to have an excuse to spend time with any of the others, they would all jump at the chance to receive some of his attention, ever since he got his job it was a hot commodity. Karasuba laughed and said,

"Yeah, good luck with getting Miya to let me on the property. Listen Tetsuya, I'm not like the rest of your Sekireis, I don't need to spend every second with you. I'm perfectly fine just being colleagues. I'll see you when you get back." she said

"Oh okay, see you then." he said, doing his best to hide his disappointment. Until he heard a voice for behind him say,

"Hey Tetsuya what are you doing here?"

Tetsuya turned to see Minato, Musubi, Kusano, and for some reason Yashima , standing behind him.

"Hey Minato, it's a long story. But, more importantly, why is Yashima with you?" he asked, pointing at Sekirei 84.

"She's kind of my newest Sekirei." Minato said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Good for you! He'll treat you right Yashima." he said with delight. In response to this both Yashima and Minato blushed and looked down at the ground.

"So, how many Sekireis is that now Minato? Three?" Tetsuya asked.

"Actually it's four. I winged Matsu a couple of days ago?" Minato said bashfully. Well, there's one question gone, he thought.

"So are you gonna stay for lunch? We just picked up the groceries." Musubi said in her normal, bubbly tone as she held up a few bags of groceries.

"Yeah, I am. Also, Uzume and the others are gonna come, minus Karasuba." Tetsuya responded.

"Awww, why isn't she coming?" Musubi asked sounding disappointed.

"She says she doesn't want to." Tetsuya said.

"Oh, okay." Musubi said disappointed. This disappointment vanished as soon as Miya called from the entrance,

"Musubi, can you come in and help me get lunch started?"

"Sure thing Miya." she said excitedly as she rushed inside. Tetsuya turned around to see that Yume had disappeared. Before he could go to look for her he felt a pair of arms grab him from behind him and lift him off the ground.

"Oh my god, I was so worried about you Tetsuya." he heard a voice from behind him say.

"I missed you too, Benitsubasa. Now put me down before you kill me" he said with a laugh as he tried not to cough up blood. She gingerly put him down o the ground. As soon as he was on the ground he whirled around and gathered her into a hug, he didn't care how much he hurt it was just good to see them all again. It looked like all of them except Karasuba had showed up. He went around gave each of them a hug.

"Alright girls, there's someone I want you to meet. Her name is Yume and she's my newest Sekirei, she saved my life yesterday. She's around here somewhere." as he turned around he saw that Yume had reappeared and was standing in the front yard once again.

"Oh... Never mind, she's back." Tetsuya said in a surprised voice. But before anyone could get to introductions. Miya called everyone into the dining room for lunch. Tetsuya followed 8 of the most important people in his life inside the house. Everyone sat down around the table and began to eat. Even Matsu came down to eat with them.

"Hey Matsu, can I ask you a few questions?" he asked as he walked around and took a seat next to the bespectacled hacker and Haihane.

"Sure Tetsuya, what's on your mind?" she asked cheerfully.

"How hard would it be for you to short a company's stocks?" he asked as he took a sip of tea.

"Not hard, but I don't think MBI would take kindly to my meddling in their share prices." she said with a shrug

"No, not MBI's, I'm talking about Higa Pharmaceuticals. I'm sick and tired of playing nice with Higa. I wanna hit him where it hurts, his wallet." he said with an evil cackle.

"Hmm, I like the way you think Tetsuya. I'll give you a call later with the details" she said with a maniacal giggle.

"Thanks and second; Why Minato?" he asked sounding befuddled. As he asked this Matsu blushed and looked down at her plate with a small smile.

"I don't know. Truth be told, I thought for sure if I was gonna let anyone wing me, it was gonna be you. But Minato... I don't know there's just something about him." she said quietly.

"I suppose that's as good a reason to love anyone. But do me a favor okay?" he asked with a shrug.

"Sure. What do you need?" she said.

"Give Minato someone else to consider other than Musubi. What I mean is, you and I both know it's pretty obvious that he likes her best. Show him that it's okay if he loves more than one of his Sekireis, show him that you all need him just as much as she does." he said with a smile. Matsu nodded at him and said,

"I will, you don't even have to ask."

As soon as she finished saying this he saw Minato flip open his phone, he looked like he was reading something because he sighed and said goodbye to Musubi and Yashima and got up and left.

"Excuse me ladies, I'll be right back." he said as he got up and followed Minato out, he wanted to talk to him anyways.

Though by the time he had waded through the crowded dining room and out onto the lawn Minato was nowhere to be seen. He sighed, he'd just have to wait then. He turned around to head back in, only to see Kusano planted squarely in his path. She looked up at him with child-like innocence. She reached up and tugged on the legs of his jeans.

"Yes, Kusano?" he said as he crouched down to look into her green eyes.

"Miya says you work for a bad man, is that true?" she asked him. Tetsuya sighed.

"Yes I do Kusano. I work for what is probably the lowest excuse for a sentient being in the history of existence." he said tiredly.

"Why, if you know he's a bad man, why do you work for him?" she asked in an innocent tone.

"Let me put it this way. Do you like spending time with Uzume, Akitsu, Haihane, and all the other nice Sekireis in there with Musubi, Matsu, and Yashima?" he asked, trying to put this in terms she'd understand.

"Uh-huh. Uzume always had cool costumes for me to wear and Akitsu knows fun stories." she said excitedly. Tetsuya smiled, Minato was lucky to have such a cute little ray of sunshine in his life.

"Well, if I didn't work for the bad man, he'd kill them all. And I can't let him do that. Wouldn't you do anything to protect your big brother?"

"Yeah! Kuu would do anything for Minato." she said in a feisty tone. Tetsuya chuckled.

"Exactly, and I'd do whatever it takes to protect them too." he said. After that, Kusano reached up and hugged him.

"Cheer up Tetsuya, I can tell your sad about your job. But I know you won't have to work for that man soon." After that Kuu let go and ran back into the dining room with the rest of them.

"I hope you're right Kuu. Buddha, I hope you're right." he sighed as he got up and headed back inside.

Half an hour later they all headed back to the tower. Yume seemed to like everyone but it didn't seem like she was particularly fond of anyone. She seemed like she was keeping her emotional distance from everyone, including him. Tetsuya pondered her possible reasons for this behavior as they rode the elevator back up to the floor they called home. He exited the elevator to see Karasuba coming out of the gym holding her her sword's sheath in her hand.

"Hey, I'm back." he said.

"I see that." she said casually as she walked past him.

"Hello, Karasuba." he heard Yume say as she stepped off the elevator into the main living area. As soon as Karasuba heard her voice, she froze in place. Then, half an instant later her sword was out as she lunged toward Yume.

"KARASUBA, NO!" Tetsuya shouted as he moved to put himself between Yume and Karasuba. This gesture proved to be unnecessary when he saw Yume calmly holding the blade of Karasuba's nodachi between her gloved hands. Tetsuya looked around to see multiple ice crystals orbiting around around Akitsu with several ice shards pointed at Karasuba. While Hikari and Hibiki both had conjured lightning bolts and pointed their hands straight at the Black Sekirei.

"What the HELL is going on with you Karasuba?" Tetsuya asked angrily. Karasuba remained silent as she whirled around and stomped out of the room.

"Come back here Karasuba, we are not done here!" Tetsuya yelled at her as he followed her out of the room as the door slammed behind him.

"I had feared this would happen." Yume said exasperatedly as she watched Tetsuya and Karasuba leave...

End of Chapter

AN: I'm not gonna pose the questions you guys are already asking yourselves after reading this. If you have any questions PM me and ask and I'll tell you the answer if you really wanna know.


	13. The Past Rears Its Ugly Head

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright, sorry about the delay, but I've recently been tossing around a few new ideas for a story. If you're interested in hearing about it or helping out with it, PM me and let me know.

Chapter 13- The Past Rears Its Ugly Head

Tetsuya followed Karasuba to her room as she stomped away from him, she tried to slam the door behind her but Tetsuya caught it as he walked into her room, it was sparsely furnished, there was only a bed and nightstand inside with no additional decorations. He closed the door behind him as he said,

"Karasuba, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you just attack Yume like that?" he asked angrily.

"Why do you even care?" she snapped as she turned to face him.

"I care because it's obvious you're upset, and when someone you care about is upset, you try to help. I also care because I can't have my Sekireis attacking one another!" he exclaimed. As he said this an insane grin spread across her face and she burst out laughing.

"Ah hahaha! That's good. You're gonna end up being the first discarded Ashikabi ever!" she said gasped between fits of laughter, her face was bright red from being unable to breathe. Tetsuya crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he waited for her to stop laughing.

"What the hell are you talking about Karasuba?" he asked

"The second that Yume is done with you, she's gonna leave you and never look back. I know people think I'm bad but even I can't hold a candle to that bitch out there." she said with a laugh. Something told Tetsuya that she had a personal reason for her rant.

"Karasuba, is there something you wanna tell me? Because it sounds like there's something you're hiding something from me. Did Yume do something to you in the past, back when you were on the Disciplinary Squad together?" he asked concernedly. Karasuba looked rattled after he asked her that question. She looked away in a rare moment of shyness. Tetsuya placed a finger under her chin and tuned her face so he could look into her eyes.

"Karasuba, if she did something to hurt you, I wanna know. I know you don't think so, but I do care for you as someone other than my colleague." he said softly to her. She swallowed hard and she started to blush.

"What I'm telling you can never leave this room, do you understand?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Of course." he said quietly.

"Back when she and I were on the squad together, we were sent to-" she began to say but before she could continue, Saki poked her head into the room, saying as she did,

"Minaka wants to see you. Now." she said in a business-like tone.

"OH DEAR LORD, SAKI! YOU HAVE THE WORST TIMING IN THE HISTORY OF EVER!" Tetsuya shouted as he turned to face her.

"Yeah, well I could really give a damn. He needs you in his office within half an hour in proper attire he says." she said as she ducked out. Tetsuya sighed and turned back to Karasuba,

"I'm sorry, but I gotta go. We'll talk when I get back, okay? Do you promise you won't attack Yume while I'm gone?" he asked. Karasuba nodded uncomfortably. Tetsuya turned around and headed towards the door, as he reached out towards the handle, before he turned the handle though he headed back to Karasuba and kissed her on the mouth. He watched as her black wings sprang out of her back. He pulled away to see Karasuba sitting there dumbstruck.

"I want you to know, I'm still mad at you. But that doesn't mean I've stopped loving you." he said as he turned and hurried back to his room, leaving the Black Sekirei standing there dumbstruck but for some reason, strangely happy.

Tetsuya hurried to his room and threw open his closet, which was now filled to bursting with designer brand shirts and suits, he picked out a black jacket and slacks with a purple shirt and a silver silk tie. He put the suit an shirt on in a few minutes, removing the ribbon from his hair as he did, letting his hair just hang down, he figured it'd look better with the suit than his normal ponytail. When he picked up the tie, a thought occurred to him.

He had no idea how to tie a tie. He spent the next ten minutes messing with his tie, trying to figure out how to tie the damned thing. After his 23rd unsuccessful attempt to tie the darned thing he removed the tie and moved to throw it on his bed. But before he could, he felt a hand grab his wrist and remove the balled up tie from his hand. He turned to see Hikari standing behind him, holding his tie in her hands. She put the tie around his shirt collar and began to tie it.

"Your father had no idea how to tie a tie either, every day he adjusted me and Hibiki he would come just after lunch. He always removed his tie to eat, so when he showed up he'd just have it balled up in his pocket, he'd always complain that Minaka would get mad at him for his unprofessional appearance. So, one day I went on the MBI computers and looked up how to tie a tie so he wouldn't get in trouble. Like father, like son I guess. Though, I gotta say if I knew who would end up winging me I would've learned more about his personal life." she said as she looked up at him with a smile, he smiled back at her.

"Thanks Hikari, one day you've gotta teach me how to do that." he said as she finished tying the tie and laid his collar down flat.

"No rush, I'm more than happy to do it for you. By the way, I've got to say you look quite handsome. Why do you think Minaka wants to see you?" she said.

"I don't know, it could be any number of reasons. It could be about how he wants all of you to... Oh crap, I totally forgot to ask." he said as he gave himself an almighty facepalm.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she brushed some lint off of his shoulder.

"Oh so many things... Come with me." he said as he grabbed her by the hand and led her out to the commons area. Most of his Sekireis were still there talking amongst them selves though Yume and Karasuba were both gone.

"Alright, Minaka wants all of you to serve on the squad. I told him I wouldn't force you, but he made me ask you. So, show of hands who's not on the squad who wants to be?" he called out as he entered the area. Akitsu, Hibiki, and Hikari all raised their hands in response.

"Really? Why do you girls wanna join?" he asked, puzzled.

"I don't trust Benitsubasa, Haihane, and Karasuba to keep you safe while you're out on squad business. I think they're more concerned with fighting than they are with your safety." Akitsu said as she stepped toward him.

"Same here." Hikari chimed in.

"I concur." said Hibiki.

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll let him know. Are you sure this is what you all want?" he said uncertainly.

"I'm sure." Hikari said.

"I'm positive as well." Hibiki said. Akitsu simply nodded at him.

"Alrighty, I'll be back." he said as he walked across the room and boarded the elevator.

Yume

She walked into Karasuba's room to see the Black Sekirei oiling the blade of her nodachi, she recognized Karasuba's nervous habit from their days on the Disciplinary Squad. Judging by the level of oil in the bottle on Karasuba's nightstand, she had oiled her blade quite a few times in the past few days. Yume raised her eyebrows, Karasuba must have been very stressed about something in the past week or so.

"What do you want, Yume?" Karasuba asked without turning around.

"I was hoping we could talk, or maybe spar." she said in a neutral tone.

"Hmm, are you sure you wouldn't rather do it with someone else? As I seem to recall, you're quite fond of choosing others over me." Karasuba said as she sheathed her sword with a hard clacking sound.

"Karasuba, please. It wasn't personal, I had no idea that Takehito would repair No. 88's core. She needed my help." Yume said

"So did I! You were my first friend ever, and my only one since! Everyone from the first squad left, and I was all alone, then you came along and acted like you were my friend. Then you just disappeared and left me all alone again. And the best part, I find out you weren't really dead, you just thought I wasn't worth contacting to let me know you were alive. Now get out of my room. I promised Tetsuya I wouldn't attack you while he was gone, but that doesn't mean I have to talk to you." Karasuba said coldly as as she stood up and leaned her sword against the wall in the corner of the room

"It seems time hasn't changed you, Karasuba. You're just as cold as ever, I see that even having an Ashikabi hasn't changed you." Yume said as she turned to leave.

"SCREW YOU YUME!" Karasuba yelled as she whirled around to face her former captain.

"Excuse me?" Yume asked calmly as she turned to face Karasuba again.

"You know what, Yume? I may not have found true love, or whatever other crap you were always rambling on about while we were in the squad. But I do care for Tetsuya, I'm not sure if it's love and frankly, I don't care. But he's more than just a coworker to me, and I swear to god, if you tell him that I said that, I **will **kill you. Now, for the last time. GET. OUT." Karasuba growled. Yume turned and left the room with a smile on her face. It seemed Karasuba had finally found someone, whether she knew it or not, she thought.

Yukari

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" she asked her first Sekirei.

"It's not ideal, but Shiina's a powerful Sekirei. He'd be a great help in the later stages, and we can't just kick him back out onto the streets, Mikogami is still looking for him. Plus, he's got an MBI card, if we had that we could quit our jobs, I know you don't like that I work at a host club." Homura said calmly, he and Yukari were discussing the possibility of her winging Shiina.

Homura had to admit, he didn't want to share Yukari, but the boy needed her help. Plus, even if Yukari winged him he knew she wouldn't stop loving him. And it wasn't like that the boy would be able to compete with him for Yukari's affection, he could tell that when Yukari looked at Shiina she was seeing her brother.

"Alright, wait here, I'll be right back." she said as she turned and headed back to their shared bedroom. Homura watched with bated breath until he saw the purple glow from behind the door that indicated she had winged him. He sighed, he was not looking forward to having to fight that boy. But he didn't care what happened, he would do whatever it took to make sure he got to spend the rest of his life with Yukari, and he wasn't going to let Shiina stand in his way...

Yahan

She followed her target home from the grocery store. She had no idea why Minaka wanted her to tail this man, but it didn't matter as long as his money was good. And if there was anything good about Minaka, it was his money. She had been following the man for the last few days, he seemed pretty average. He had no Sekirei, he had a full time-job during the evening and went to school during the day. There seemed to be nothing noteworthy about him.

She watched as he turned into an alley that veered off the route he normally took home from the store. She frowned and teleported down to an unoccupied section of sidewalk and carefully followed him down the alley. Though, when she entered the alley, she saw it appeared to be empty. There was only a dumpster on one side and a pile of trash bags on the other. She frowned, where did he go, she thought. After pondering it a short while, she sighed. He must be hiding in the dumpster, she thought with a sigh. She pulled out her dagger and quietly sneaked over to the dumpster and threw the lid open with a boom... only to see that it was totally empty.

"What?" she asked befuddled. Then, it hit her. Or rather, Seo hit her. He tackled her from behind and slammed her wrist against the dumpster, knocking the dagger from her hand.

"Why are you following me?" he asked angrily. She smirked and teleported; or rather she tried to. She tried to teleport like she had so many times before, but she couldn't for some reason. To add to her current her predicament, her body was hot and she was breathing heavily.

"Answer me!" Seo said angrily. Her eyes widened in shock, she'd heard about this before, she must be reacting to this man. She smiled, she had heard when a Sekirei was winged they gained a huge power boost, and that gave her an idea.

"Kiss me." she said breathily. Seo's eyes widened in shock as she said this.

"What? Are you kidding?" he asked. He let go of her wrist and pulled away. As soon as he did Yahan reached up and kissed him forcefully on the mouth. As she did she felt the heat in her body intensify and saw a golden light appear from behind her as her gold wings spread out behind her.

"Congratulations Seo Kaoru, you're an Ashikabi now." she said with a smirk.

Tetsuya

Tetsuya was in the gym sparring with Karasuba, Minaka had called him up earlier to find out which of his Sekireis would be serving on the Disciplinary Squad. Tetsuya had informed him that Akitsu, Hikari, and Hibiki had volunteered to join, an answer that seemed to satisfy Minaka. He'd stopped by Takami's lab after his meeting with Minaka and she'd shot him full of drugs that accelerated his healing he was a little sore now, but he no longer felt like a walking corpse.

He dodged a strike the Black Sekirei had aimed at his midsection and tried to mount a counter attack, which Karasuba dodged effortlessly. He didn't know why, but his skills had dramatically improved since his return to the tower, at times it even seemed like he was challenging Karasuba, who was hands-down the most skilled swordsman currently active in the Sekirei Plan.

He swung his wooden nodachi at Karasuba, hoping to land a solid hit on her. But the instant before it connected she ducked underneath it and before he knew it, her blade was at his throat.

"Good job, you've gotten much better since last time. I'd say you might even be able to go toe-to-toe with Mutsu soon." she said, slightly out of breath.

"What can I say? I've got a great teacher." he said with a grin as sweat dripped down his face. "So about earlier, what were you gonna say before Saki interrupted us?"

"Listen, I don't know what I was thinking earlier, it's not important." she said as she put her wooden sword on the wall rack. Tetsuya was about to push the issue, but it occurred to him that Karasuba might not be emotionally ready to open up.

"It's okay, you'll tell me when you're ready. Just promise you're not gonna attack Yume again, okay?" he said as he walked up and put his sword on the wall.

"I promise to try my best." she said with a chuckle.

"Good enough for me." he said with a smile. He was headed back to his room to take a nap before dinner when his phone beeped, it was the email notification tone. He checked his phone and saw he had an email form Mikogami.

"It's so freaky that he has my email address." Tetsuya said as he began to read the message, which was titled A** Change In Schedule**.

_Dearest Tetsuya,_

_ I'm afraid I must move up our meeting to tomorrow. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes you, but I'm afraid I must insist. I am not totally without manners though, I will provide transportation to the meeting place. I assure you it is not an attempt to ambush you, I would not risk the wrath of MBI and the chance to win the game over a petty grudge. I must request that you limit your party to 5 Sekireis, as that is the maximum capacity of the car that I am sending._

_All The Best,_

_ Hayato Mikogami_

"There were at least 4 sentences in that letter that made me want to punch someone." Tetsuya said, sounding annoyed. He sighed and headed back to his room. He pulled out his phone and set the timer for 3 hours and laid his phone on his night stand. He laid his head down on the pillow and began to think on who he would take to the meeting with Mikogami, until he drifted off to sleep.

He woke three hours later to the sound of his alarm, he looked over to his nightstand to see a tray of rice and fish sitting on it. He tried to get up but he felt a weight on his left side. He removed the blankets that covered him and looked over to see Akitsu's auburn hair and alabaster skin. Apparently while he'd been asleep Akitsu had come in to bring him dinner, and upon seeing him asleep, had crawled under the covers with him.

"Hey, you awake Akitsu?" he asked. Akitsu stirred and rubbed the sleep for her eyes and looked at him with a smile.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Fine, and you?" he asked as he sat up and rested against the headboard of the bed.

"Better than I have in a while, I must say I miss sneaking into your room at night." she said as she sat next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"You know Akitsu, I never said you couldn't sleep in here with me. If you want, you can spend as many nights as you want in here. I won't stop you." he said to her.

"I... Would enjoy that." she said with a smile.

"Hey Akitsu, I have to go meet Mikogami tomorrow to discuss something, and there's no one I'd rather have by my side than you. Will you come with me to meet him tomorrow? Unless, of course you don't want to come. In which case, I totally understand if you don't want to come, the boy did try to extort your vulnerable position into making you serve him." he said. After he finished Akitsu sat up and looked at him.

"Tetsuya, I don't care where you go, if you let me, I'd never leave you alone. But I understand that you need your space, even though it hurts my heart every second we're apart. I will gladly accompany you tomorrow, it has been a long time since I got to spend any quality time with you anyways."

Suddenly it hit Tetsuya just how much it hurt Akitsu and the others when he did things alone. They all loved him and wanted to help and all he did was shut them out and take it all on his own shoulders, when all they wanted to do was help. He promised himself from that point on it wouldn't be just him doing all these things, he was going to need them all in the coming days and how could he ask them to trust him, when he couldn't bring himself to trust them. Akitsu got up from the bed and started to leave, but before she could, Tetsuya got up and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Don't go." he whispered in her ear. She turned around to face him looking deep into his eye and wrapped her arms around his neck. He leaned in and kissed her on the mouth, he felt her lips part and he tongue enter his mouth and begin to explore the inside of his mouth. As she did that she felt him reach down and giver her butt a squeeze. She moaned into his mouth as she started to undo his pants. As she did that he reached up and undid the chains that held her outfit together and untied the bow in the sash that was tied around her waist. He pulled away and took off his pants and shirt as he watched her outfit fall from her shoulders into a pile on the ground, revealing her perfect alabaster breasts. She took his hand and led him to the bed and laid down on it, pulling him down until he was laying on top of her.

"Are you sure you want this Akitsu?" he asked as he positioned himself at her entrance.

"More than I've ever wanted anything in my life." she said as she leaned up and kissed him once more on the lips.

That night they made love, and when they finished Akitsu fell asleep in Tetsuya's arms. He knew he'd have to explain this or pay for it in some form or another in the future, but he didn't care. He loved all his Sekireis and it was time he did something other than just say it. He wasn't picking Akitsu over the others, he loved them all equally and he was willing to make love to each and every one of them when they were ready. Akitsu had only been his first because, no matter what had happened she had never complained or demanded an explanation. She had suffered in silence and trusted him to do the right thing throughout it all.

The next morning they woke and showered together and afterward Akitsu had gone out and helped Hibiki prepare breakfast while Tetsuya dressed in another of his suits this time choosing a black coat and pants with a white shirt and black tie. After they ate Tetsuya had asked which of his Sekireis wanted to come with him to meet Mikogami. All of them had raised their hands.

After much debate he had decided on taking Benitsubasa, Haihane, and Karasuba due to the fact they had all trained together and were proven to be strong fighters that worked well together. Along with Akitsu and Toyotama, since Akitsu had been scrapped because of her overwhelming power and the fact that Toyotama was an amazing fighter, capable of taking on Benitsubasa on her own and tying with her 9 out of 10 times, and winning the 10th time. Yume was left behind because, even though she was easily one of his strongest Sekirei, there was no guarantee of how well she'd work with any of the others

The limo Mikogami had sent arrived at around 12:30. Tetsuya and his 5 chosen Sekirei entered the limo, riding to a situation that no one knew anything about, trusting only in each other to keep them all safe...


	14. New Friends and Old Enemies

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright guys, I've noticed recently that things have been pretty emotionally heavy these last few chapters. So I think after this chapter, I'm gonna take a small break from the action and work on developing some of the characters and wrapping up some of the finer details and some of the unanswered questions. I've also recently noticed I haven't given credit to some of my fellow authors who helped me with the story, so I would personally thank FreeTraderBeowolf, AcediaPrototype, ScorpinokXV, Garyu, Mzr90, and Haseo55. You've all been a huge help. On another note, I FINALLY BROKE 100 REVIEWS, WOOT! Now to sally forth into a new chapter featuring a few of my favorite secondary characters.

Chapter 14-New Friends and Old Enemies

Tetsuya sat in the back seat of the limo Mikogami had sent to pick up him, Karasuba, Benitsubasa, Haihane, Akitsu, and Toyotama. They rode silently until Haihane asked,

"Are you sure this isn't an ambush?"

"I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying when he said it wasn't an ambush. But if it is, feel free to lay the smack down on him and his Sekirei, no killing his Sekirei though. I'll leave his mortality in your hands, if it comes to it." he said with a shrug.

"Wow I'm surprised Tetsuya, that's pretty cold of you." Karasuba said with a chuckle.

"Well, he has a history of forcefully winging Sekirei and he even tried to wing Kusano against her will. So I'm not feeling particularly charitable towards him." he said casually.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you if anything happens." Benitsubasa enthusiastically from the seat next to him as she entwined her fingers in his and gave his hand a warm squeeze. As she did this Akitsu grabbed Tetsuya's other arm from her seat beside him and pulled him towards her. In retaliation Benitsubasa grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to her, this grotesque game of tug-of-war continued for a few seconds until Tetsuya sighed tiredly,

"Girls, I'm not a toy, I'm a man and you know I hate when you girls fight over me." he said exasperatedly.

"She started it." Benitsubasa said accusingly as she glared at Akitsu and stuck her tongue out at her.

"No, she started it when she held your hand." Akitsu shot back at her as she narrowed her eyes at the Red Sekirei.

"Looks like you've got some competition, washboard." Haihane teased playfully.

"Shut up Haihane! Besides, Tetsuya doesn't like big breasts anyways. Right Tetsuya?" she said as she blushed crimson and looked at him with a surprisingly innocent look on her face.

"I'm not getting in the middle of this. I'm just going to point out that I love you all." Tetsuya said as he crossed his legs and waited for the argument to burn itself out. Which would have worked fine, until Toyotama decided to get up and plant herself between Benitsubasa and Tetsuya. As she sat down she grabbed Tetsuya's arm and placed his hand on her left breast,

"I think he likes big breasts, don't you Tetsuya?" she said as she pressed his hand harder against her impressive chest. This succeeded in getting a reaction from Benitsubasa.

"Toyotama! How could you? Take this, EXTREME QUAKE!" Benitsubasa howled as she raised her now glowing fist and moved to slam it against the floor of the limo. Halfway toward the floor though Tetsuya caught her arm by the wrist and the glow faded from her fist.

"Not here Benitsubasa. If you girls wanna kill each other when we get back, fine. But not here. I need you to be civil until we get back okay?" Tetsuya said sternly. All of his Sekireis except Karasuba looked down at the floor, looking guilty.

"Sorry Tetsuya..." Akitsu said quietly.

"Yeah, sorry..." said Benitsubasa, sounding ashamed. Haihane sat there uncomfortably not saying anything.

"I hope you're all happy, now you've gone and upset him." Toyotama said haughtily as she put her arm around his shoulder. As soon as she did Tetsuya turned to look at her with wide eyes and a scary grin. The color drained from Toyotama's face as Tetsuya's oni mask materialized behind him and started to hiss at his third Sekirei.

"What I meant to say is, I'm sorry and promise to behave until we get back." she squeaked in a terrified voice. After she finished speaking the door to Tetsuya's left opened to reveal the driveway of a large house outside.

"We have arrived sir." the driver of the car said in a flat tone. Tetsuya nodded and got up and exited the car, followed by his Sekireis. After they had exited the car a Sekirei that Tetsuya recognized as No. 38, Mitsuha arrived and said,

"The master is waiting for you, follow me please." she said politely as she turned and led them up a pathway to a door. She opened the door into a opulently furnished entryway and led them through a series of rooms until they arrived in a large dining room where Tetsuya spotted a large table with a young boy in a white outfit seated at it's head sipping some tea in a leisurely manner with a man in black wearing an orange scarf and holding a sword seated to his left, with a woman wearing a long kimono with long back hair tied back with a ribbon seated to his right. A woman that looked surprisingly like the woman escorting them in was standing behind him and to the right.

"Ah, I see you've arrived. Please, have a seat." he said politely as he gestured to the remaining seats around the table as Mitsuha took her place behind him and to the left. Tetsuya nodded and took a seat at the opposite end of the table from Mikogami and watched as Akitsu took the seat to his left while Haihane sat to his right, shooting a smug look at Benitsubasa as she did, causing her to fume and take the seat next to her and glare daggers at her. Toyotama took the seat next to Akitsu, while Karasuba walked around behind Tetsuya and stood there menacingly.

"It seems you've had quite the run of luck recently. Hard to believe it was only a month and a half ago you stole No.10 from me and a day later, the discarded number and became an Ashikabi and a player in this great game." Mikogami said wistfully. Tetsuya placed his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together, but was silent. (Gendo pose!) Mikogami cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Moving on, I believe we could both benefit greatly from each other. As I'm sure you're aware, we are two of the most powerful players in the game, along with Higa of the East, Sanada of the West, and Sahashi of the North." Mikogami said calmly. Tetsuya raised his eyebrows, he hadn't realized Minato was so powerful, he knew that the boy had winged 1 more Sekirei since Yashima, but it hadn't occurred to him that the boy might be as powerful as some of the bigger players. Akitsu and Toyotama turned to look at him, trying to gauge whether or not Tetsuya was considering Mikogami's offer. Tetsuya remained silent and impassive, Mikogami had asked him no questions, or said anything that Tetsuya had not considered.

"Now, I realize you may be worried about me possibly betraying you after establishing you as a hostile player to Higa or any of the others. I assure you, you have no risk of betrayal from me at this point. I only propose that we remain allied until we are the last 2 remaining. At that point, we part ways and fight to see who remains." Mikogami continued. By this point, All eyes at the table were on Tetsuya, waiting with anticipation to hear his answer.

Tetsuya inhaled slowly, as he did he could swear he could see everyone lean in close to hear his upcoming answer. Which was unfortunate, since his answer was a very loud and wet raspberry. Haihane, Benitsubasa, and Toyotama put their hands over their mouths and began to giggle furiously even Akitsu began to giggle quietly while Karasuba chuckled to herself.

"Excuse me?" Mikogami asked, absolutely confused by the spectacle before him.

"That was a no." Tetsuya said plainly.

"What do you mean no?" Mikogami asked, astounded.

"I wasn't aware the word had multiple meanings." Tetsuya said simply

"But why not?" Mikogami asked, puzzled.

"Because, one, you treat your Sekireis like servants, not people. And B, you see them as only a means to an end, not as the amazing beings they are." he said as he grabbed Haihane's hand in his own and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, causing the Indigo Sekirei to blush. He was thankful that she had removed her clawed gauntlet just a few minutes ago to cover her mouth when she began to giggle.

"And lastly, I don't like your face." he said bluntly as he stood up. Mikogami sighed and stood up and walked over to meet Tetsuya.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." Mikogami said as he extended a hand toward Tetsuya as if to shake hands. Tetsuya reached out and gingerly took the teenager's hand. When suddenly, Mikogami reached up and forcefully kissed Tetsuya on the mouth.

BANG! The next moment Mikogami felt his head painfully slammed into the table as Tetsuya quickly fought off his molester. Tetsuya was 3 seconds from snapping Mikogami's skinny neck, when he looked over to see a blade pointed at his head. Mutsu had managed to close the distance between Tetsuya him in the 3/4 of a second he had taken to register Mikogami's kiss and stop his attempted sexual assault on him.

"Mutsu, put the sword away. It'll be best for everyone." Tetsuya said as he pressed Mikogami's head harder in to the wooden table.

"Ow ow ow! Mutsu make him release me at once." Mikogami whined from under Tetsuya's grip.

"Let him go." Mutsu said in a hard tone.

"Sword away first." Tetsuya growled.

"I'd do as he says Mutsu." said a voice from behind Mutsu. Mutsu glanced over to see Karasuba with her blade pointed at his heart behind him. An evil gleam in her eye. Everyone in the room was frozen in shock at the spectacle.

"Your move, Mutsu." Tetsuya said with a grin. Mutsu glanced around for a few seconds before deciding to sheathe his sword. Tetsuya released his grip on Mikogami's head, asking,

"What the hell was that you prepubescent insect?!" Tetsuya spat at the boy as Mikogami stood up and smoothed out a few wrinkles on the front of his outfit.

"I'd heard you were half-Sekirei." he said haughtily.

"And?" Tetsuya said, confused.

"I thought if I kissed you-" Mikogami began.

"You thought you could wing me. Wow. Dick move, man," Tetsuya interrupted with a sigh and turned to leave, saying

"C'mon girls, we're done here" he said as he strode out of the dining room followed by his Sekireis. When Akitsu reached the exit of the dining room she turned and walked over to Mikogami, saying as she did,

"I know it's none of my business, but it looks to me regardless of if you forcefully winged them or not, all your Sekireis care very deeply for you, Mutsu especially. What I mean to say is that, as long as you see them as tools alone, you will never be able to win against someone like Tetsuya. You should try to get to know your Sekireis, because without love a Sekirei is forever crippled in battle. They are all people and they all wish to be loved by you and love you in return. Perhaps you should give it a try and maybe you will be able to see why the others and I love Tetsuya so much. He's my world Hayato, and I'd like to think that even if I had went with you all those weeks ago, that Tetsuya and I would've found each other regardless. And I'm sure all your Sekireis feel the same about you. Please consider what I've said." she said as she bowed and turned and hurried back to Tetsuya.

"Did you mean what you said back there about you and me finding each other?" he asked as she caught back up to him outside as the car from MBI arrived to pick them up. Akitsu blushed, but then she realized she didn't care if he heard her, she loved him and was glad to show him.

"I did, I believe that we were destined to meet Tetsuya, and there is nothing that could have stopped our meeting." she said as she grabbed his hand and they entered the car and rode back to the tower.

Tetsuya arrived back at the tower a half hour later and was about to head to his room to take a shower, when his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he said as he answered the call.

"Hey bud, I just called to say happy birthday-" Seo began

"SHHHHH" Tetsuya said frantically as he moved to close the door to his room.

"Sorry Seo, but if my Sekireis knew it was my birthday, pandemonium would ensue." Tetsuya said as he imagined what his Sekireis would try to do if they knew it was his birthday.

"Yea, well I just called to wish you a happy birthday. I know we normally do stuff on your birthday but I'm super busy today." Seo said.

"Mmm, Seo come back to bed." Tetsuya heard a voice in the background.

"Whoops, gotta go bud." he heard Seo say.

"Take care uncle Seo, you and your lady friend have fun." Tetsuya said with a chuckle.

"Will do, bud." Seo said with a click as he hung up.

He heard his door open from behind him .He turned around to see Benitsubasa standing in his doorway.

"'Sup Benitsubasa?" he said as he turned to face her.

"Haihane and I are heading out on patrol. And I was just wondering if..." she nervously as she looked at the floor and started to blush.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I was wondering if I could give you a kiss goodbye before I left." she said nervously. He smiled, Benitsubasa was so feisty and energetic around everybody else, but underneath it all she was actually very shy and unsure of herself.

"Of course Benitsubasa, you don't have to ask if you wanna kiss me. Just use common sense when you do." he said as he walked up and took her hands in his. She continued to blush as she looked up and leaned in to kiss him. He leaned down and kissed her, causing her two crimson wings to appear behind her.

"Hey I got an idea, how bout I come on patrol with you and Haihane? I'm fairly certain I can keep up with you two." he said as their lips parted. Benitsubasa's face lit up at his words.

"Yea sure! I'd love if you came out with us." she said as she gathered him into a hug.

After that Tetsuya changed into his casual attire of a black shirt and jeans and tied his hair back into a ponytail. A few hours later they were jumping between roof tops looking for rule breakers when suddenly they heard a ear splitting shriek come from the street level. He landed on a rooftop next to Haihane and Benitsubasa.

"Wanna check that out?" he asked. Haihane nodded wordlessly and they headed toward the source of the disturbance.

They arrived a few minutes later on top of a roof bordering an alley. Tetsuya looked down into the alley to see a fairly short, fair-skinned girl with blue eyes and messy chin-length blond hair. She was wearing a blue long sleeved blouse with a white collar and a matching ruffled skirt, knee high black boots and white stockings that stopped just above her knees. She was backed into a corner by two other women, one had blonde short hair. She was wearing a black leather top up from her belly and leather bloomers and stockings. She had long strings with blades attached to the end hanging from her hands. The other wore clothing similar to the robes of a his mother wore, consisting of a white haori and red hakama. Her hair was dark and unkempt. She was equipped with a pair of wicked swords.

"Your Ashikabi's other Sekirei has been doing great work for Master Higa, but you've proven to be absolutely useless. So our master has decided it'll be better if we just terminate you now." said the one wielding the swords.

"Hey Haihane, aren't Sekirei battles supposed to be one-on-one?" Tetsuya asked. Haihane nodded,

"Yeah, but they aren't always one-on-one." she said.

"Well, that's the rule and it's our job to enforce it. Why don't you girls even the odds in this battle?" he said as he turned to look at Benitsubasa, who grinned and nodded after she realized what he meant.

"C'mon Haihane, let's go to work." she said gleefully as Haihane raised her claws and leaped down into the alley behind Benitsubasa.

Sai

She raised her whips and prepared to attack No. 95, when she felt a presence closing in on her. She dodged just in time to see a claw soar through the area her head had been 2 seconds ago. Her partner was not so lucky, Benitsubasa's Shredder attack landed, destroying all of her clothes save her underwear.

"What have we here? It looks like your ganging up on this poor girl. But that can't be right, cause that's against the rules." she heard a voice from behind her say. She turned to see an athletic man with purple hair standing behind her.

"So what? This is none of your business." she growled

"Actually it is, since I'm the Ashikabi of the Disciplinary Squad. Now I'm going to show you why you shouldn't break the rules." he said, after that he turned and nodded to one of the Sekireis that had attacked them. Sai turned around just in time to see Benitsubasa lunge toward her.

"Pulverizer!" Benitsubasa shouted as her glowing fist slammed into her side, sending her flying into the wall.

Tetsuya

He watched as Benitsubasa efficiently knocked out the Sekirei wielding the whips. He turned see the other Sekirei lunge at Haihane , swinging her swords wildly as she tried to hit the Indigo Sekirei. She seemed not to notice that she was almost nude. Haihane blocked one of her strikes, causing her gauntlet to spark where the other Sekireis had hit it. They traded blows for a few minutes after that, sending sparks flying everywhere as they did until Haihane launched a counterattack as she said,

"Zankaku No Tsume! (Talons of Execution)" Haihane exclaimed as she scratched her opponent leaving a series of long cuts on her opponent. Her opponent hit the ground and tried to shakily get to her feet, Haihane walked over to her in an apparent attempt to use her Norito to finish her off.

"Wait." Tetsuya said as he held up a hand.

"What's wrong?" Haihane asked as sh turned to face him.

"Don't finish them off. I need them to take a message to Higa." he said as he walked over to the unconscious Sai, noting that she still had her crest.

"Tell your master that I'm coming for him." he said to the other Sekirei. She nodded shakily as she walked over to her fallen comrade and picked her up and started to walk away.

Tetsuya turned to face the girl in the corner who had been sitting there terrified the entire battle.

"Are you okay?" He said as he extended a hand to help the terrified Sekirei up off the ground. She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Uh-huh, thanks for helping me out, my name's Kuno. I was supposed to meet my Ashikabi at the park, but big sis got pulled away to do something and I overslept and then on the way here I got lost at those two ambushed me and I can't fight so if you hadn't come along I'd be a goner." the girl blubbered as she hugged Tetsuya and started to cry.

"Whoa, calm down. Come on, I'll help you find your Ashikabi, now where were you supposed to meet her?" Tetsuya asked as he removed the sobbing Sekirei's arms from around his waist.

"Tetsuya, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean come on, she's useless we should just leave her here." Haihane said.

"My parents never refused help to those who asked for it and neither shall I. Besides, we're almost done with patrol anyways, whats the harm?" Tetsuya said.

After the that Kuno told Tetsuya that her Ashikabi had told her to meet her in the park near Hiyamakai Hospital. They arrived there a few minutes later and after scouring the park for 15 minutes Kuno informed them that she didn't see her Ashikabi.

"What time were you supposed to meet her here?" Tetsuya asked the frightened Sekirei. Kuno had gotten progressively more terrified since they arrived at the park.

"We normally meet here at 2:30 everyday." she said in quivering voice, she looked to be on the verge of tears. Tetsuya check his phone, it read 6:23 PM.

"Kuno it's 6:30, how late did you sleep?" he asked incredulously.

"I only slept till 2, I must have lost track of time when I got lost. This is all my fault I should have waited for big sis to get back, I always get lost when I go out on my own." she sputtered as she began to sob, causing copious amounts of tears and snot to flow down her face.

"Calm down, it's gonna be okay. Is there anywhere else she could be?" Tetsuya asked, trying to soothe the crying Sekirei.

"Well she spends a lot of time over at Hiyamakai Hospital, she could be there." Kuno whimpered.

"Does she work over there?" Tetsuya asked.

"No, she's really sick so she pretty much lives there." Kuno said as she began to calm down.

"Alright let's go look for her there." Tetsuya said.

"Don't worry if anyone can find her Tetsuya can." Benitsubasa chimed in. Unlike Haihane, Benitsubasa hadn't complained at all during their attempt to find Kuno's Ashikabi, in fact she had been quite helpful in their search. Tetsuya smiled, he was glad Benitsubasa had so much faith in him, though he wasn't sure he deserved it.

They headed for the hospital Kuno had indicated. They arrived a few minutes later, though it took them almost 20 minutes to find the room they were looking for, Kuno seemed incapable of finding the room in the large hospital. Eventually they gave up and asked one of the orderlies where the room was, they found the room a few minutes later. Though when they opened the door and walked into the room, they saw only an empty hospital bed.

"Where did she go? Something bad must have happened! I hope she's alright!" Kuno cried.

"Calm down Kuno, I'm sure she's-" Tetsuya began to say, when suddenly he was interrupted by a voice from behind him saying,

"Kuno, who's that with you?"

Tetsuya turned to face the source of the voice to see a young girl with long brown hair sitting in a wheelchair in a hospital gown behind him in the doorway to the room.

"Chiho! I'm so sorry I was late, big sis Kazehana got called away to do something, and I overslept, then I got lost and attacked by two mean Sekireis. But this nice man named Tetsuya saved me and helped me find you." Kuno cried as she ran over and hugged the girl. Benitsubasa leaned over and whispered in Tetsuya's ear,

"Wasn't Kazehana the one who attacked you?"

"Yeah, but did you hear what the two Sekireis earlier said, Kazehana is working for Higa. I don't know why she's doing it, but let's not say anything until we know why." he whispered back. Benitsubasa nodded in response.

"Thanks for helping Kuno, I don't know how to thank you. If something happened to her, I don't know what I'd do." Chiho said as she wheeled herself over to Tetsuya.

"It was no trouble. I was happy to help." Tetsuya said with a wave of his hand..

"Well anyways, thank you." Chiho said gratefully.

After that Tetsuya spent a few hours talking to Chiho, he learned that she was suffering from an aggressive, incurable virus and that because of it, she couldn't leave the hospital. Though she liked to sneak out to the park to see Kuno and Kazehana, her two Sekireis. She told him how her parents had died in a car crash when she was little, and shortly after contracting her disease all of her relatives had abandoned her to her fate. Kuno and Kazehana were the only two people in the world who cared about her anymore. Tetsuya felt bad for her, his bad luck paled in comparison to her fate. Tetsuya left a few hours later after promising to visit her as soon as he could.

After he finished talking to Chiho, he headed back to the tower with Haihane and Benitsubasa. By the time they arrived back at the tower it was 9 o'clock. Tetsuya headed to his room to shower, when he arrived he saw a long black case leaning against his bed with a tag hanging off the side. He walked over and examined the tag hanging off the side, it read,

_I know you don't like people making a big fuss over your birthday, but Happy Birthday._

There was no name on it, but he could tell the writing wasn't Seo's, it looked feminine if he had to guess, he shrugged and opened the case to reveal a nodachi with a polished silver blade sitting on black velvet.

"Wow." Tetsuya breathed as he removed the sword. It was superbly balanced, it felt like an extension of his own body as he practiced a few of his stances and strikes with it. After a few minutes he laid it back within in the case and hid it under his bed.

Tetsuya headed to his bathroom and started to disrobe. He removed his shirt and moved to take his pants when something in the mirror caught his eye. He stood up and turned so he could get a good look at his shoulder. On his left shoulder there appeared to be a tattoo of an ice-blue snowflake, with 6 lines spreading out from a central point and multiple other lines shooting off each of the 6 central lines.

"What the hell?" Tetsuya asked as he traced the lines of this mysterious new mark.

End Of Chapter

Author's Note: Alright guys here it is, I hope you enjoyed it. Why is Kazehana working for Higa? What does the mark on Tetsuya's shoulder mean? Who sent him the sword? I will answer all these questions and more in the next few chapters. As always, please read and review. Even if it's just nice chapter. Any and all feedback is appreciated. PM me if you have any questions, even those that could be spoilers. I will answer any questions I can.


	15. A Short Break From The Game

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright, haven't gotten a lot of feedback on my last chapter yet, but I'm feeling inspired so I decided to get right back to writing, I've been looking forward to to writing a chapter like this for a long time. One that focuses more on developing characters than the story. But don't worry, I'll be back to the action soon. I have also posted a new poll on my profile that will have an impact on my next story please vote if you wish. Also I have omitted a few Sekireis from the pool because they already have a set Ashikabi, or simply because I don't want my next character to have any of the same Sekirei as Tetsuya.

Chapter 15- A Short Break From The Game

"You better have a good reason for pulling me away from my work." Takami Sahashi said as she sat down on the chair next to the examination table that Tetsuya sat on. He had come down shortly after waking up and having breakfast that morning as well as getting in a morning training session with a Karasuba.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're terribly busy doing absolutely nothing as the Sekirei murder each other for Minaka's enjoyment." Tetsuya shot back. He didn't care for Takami, the woman was a hypocrite. She said she didn't support what Minaka did, yet she never did anything to stop it. She was also partially responsible for his father's death. She'd been with Minaka in the beginning, she'd had more chances than anyone to stop the Sekirei Plan from happening, yet she'd always just sat back and watched, never doing anything to stop it. The woman was just as bad, if not worse than Minaka.

"Excuse me? I'm doing everything I can to stop Minaka's plan. It's not like I'm supporting him in this stupid endeavor." she said incredulously.

"No, you just adjust the Sekirei to fight each other. All the while providing just enough help to your son and daughter, who you let be roped into this sick game, to convince yourself that you're doing the best you can. While at the same time not really doing anything." he snapped at her. She narrowed her eyes at him and looked like she was she was about to say something, but decided it was in her best interest not to anger him. The boy was more than physically capable of killing her and was already pushed to his emotional limit by Minaka's threat, so she let it go.

"Did you want something or did you come down here just to annoy me?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could tell me what the deal with this thing on my shoulder is." Tetsuya said as he removed his shirt, exposing the intricate snowflake mark on his shoulder. At the sight of the strange marking the scientist in her took over.

"This isn't a tattoo you say?" she said as she pulled out a clipboard and started to jot down notes.

"Of course not. You gave me a physical a few days ago. If I'd gotten it since then, it'd still be red." Tetsuya said .

"Alright, I'm gonna take a blood sample. Stick out your arm please." she said as she opened a drawer and pulled out an empty vial and syringe. Tetsuya stuck out his arm, wincing slightly as she stuck the needle in his arm. After she had filled the small vial with a sample of his blood, she stoppered it and put it in a bag. After that, she put a cotton ball on the wound caused by the syringe and wrapped some medical tape around his elbow to hold it in place.

"Alright, follow me, I'm gonna give you a full body scan and see if anything turns up. Don't worry it'll only take an hour." She said to Tetsuya. Tetsuya sighed and followed her through a pair of white double doors.

An hour later Tetsuya finished getting dressed after receiving the scan. He turned to face Takami as she said,

"Alright, I'll call you as soon as the results are in. Have fun until then." she said as she wrote something on her clipboard. Tetsuya nodded and walked back to the elevator and swiped his ID card and rode back to his floor.

He arrived back at his floor to see Uzume asleep on the couch in front of the TV. Haihane was sitting on one of the armchairs, watching one of her many favorite TV shows. The others were off doing who-knows-what. Tetsuya decided to head to his office to do some research before he went on patrol with the Twins and Akitsu later.

He walked through the corridors on the floor until he arrived at his office. He opened the door and headed inside and sat down at the massive desk in the middle of the room. He opened the laptop he kept on the desk and typed in his password and searched for info on Hiyamakai Hospital. Something about Chiho's situation didn't sit right with him. MBI was a huge pharmaceutical corporation and all participants of the Sekirei Plan were allowed to use it's hospital facilities for free, and with all the alien tech that MBI had, they should be able to cure Chiho's illness with ease.

"Aha! Well that answers that question." Tetsuya said as he was browsing through the hospital's homepage and saw it was owned by Higa Pharmaceuticals. It occurred to Tetsuya that Chiho and Kuno might not know that MBI would treat her for free and do a better job than Higa's company would. Though it didn't explain why Kazehana was working for Higa. He'd give Matsu a call later and see if she couldn't dig up anything on that subject.

At that moment the door to his office opened with a creak and Yume poked her head inside.

"Tetsuya, are you busy?" she asked from the doorway.

"I'm never too busy for you girls. What's up Yume?" he said as he looked up from his desk.

"I came to apologize for the scene with Karasuba the day before yesterday. I would like to explain the reason for her outburst. It comes from when we used to work on the Disciplinary Squad together. But perhaps there is somewhere where we could talk without risk of interruption?" she said as she stepped inside the room.

"Here is fine." he said as he walked over and locked the door so no one would walk in on him and Yume. Yume nodded and took a seat on the couch that sat against the wall opposite his desk. Tetsuya walked over and took a seat on the couch next to her.

"Back when Karasuba and I worked together on the squad we were friends, we spent most of our time off together, we were close to inseparable" she said as she placed her hands in her lap.

"Are we talking about the same Karasuba here? Because I can't imagine Karasuba being anyone's buddy. I'm her Ashikabi, her _Fated One_ and I don't think she even likes me half the time." Tetsuya said disbelievingly.

"You don't give yourself enough credit. Whether you two know it or not, I believe Karasuba loves you more than anything." Yume said kindly as she gazed into her Ashikabi's gray eyes.

"Well, I'm glad you think so." he said with a smile.

"But my point is, that when I gave my core to No. 88, Karasuba felt like I betrayed and abandoned her. I believe that is why she resents me and I believe it's why she'd so cold to all of you most of the time. I was the only person who had stuck with her through everything before that and I believe my leaving hurt her very badly. I saw you were angry with her yesterday and I want you to know it isn't her fault, it's mine." she said

"Well thank you, I appreciate you standing up for her, but I'm not mad at her anymore. But may I ask you something?" Tetsuya said.

"Of course, anything." Yume said with a smile.

"It's always seemed to me like you were friendly to everyone, yet at the same time you seemed like you were keeping your distance. Why is that?" Tetsuya asked

"I apologize, but while I was on the run from MBI, I could not trust anyone and I guess I got comfortable keeping people at arm's length, I apologize if I seemed cold. My greatest pleasure has always been observing the happiness of others. But before I met you, I never thought I would have the chance to feel it myself, and I do not wish to seem ungrateful. I do love you and I will work on showing it more, if that is what you wish." she said calmly.

"It's not that you seem ungrateful, or that I want you to show more love. I like you just the way you are. But I want you to know that you don't have to keep any of us at a distance, you can trust me and the girls with anything. All I'm asking is that you let us in a little. Can you do that?" he said as he took a hold of her hands. She blushed and looked away in response to his speech.

"I... will try to do that." she said bashfully. Tetsuya smiled, when an idea occurred to him.

"Hey, you wanna come out on patrol with us later today?" he asked eagerly. Yume nodded,

"I would enjoy getting to spend more time with you and the others." she replied.

"Alright it's settled, I'll let Akitsu, Hikari, and Hibiki know that you're coming with us later." he said.

"Alright, I'll see you later, there's something I've gotta do before we go." she said. Tetsuya was about to press her for details, but decided no to pry so he let it go.

After that, he went to Hibiki's room and knocked on the door twice.

"Come in." he heard from inside, he turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door and poked his head inside to see Hibiki lying down on her bed with a magazine open on the covers in front of her.

"Hey, how's it going? I wanted to see how you were holding up since I haven't seen much of you since we moved in." he said as he entered the room and closed it behind him. Hibiki smiled, she felt touched by the gesture. She knew her Ashikabi was a busy man as of late and it was nice that he had made time to visit her.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. So what brings you here?" she said as she sat up. She was dressed in a pink tank top with the number 12 on the front and a pair of Capri jeans.

"I just came by to see you and tell you that Yume is coming with us on patrol. So what have you been up to since we moved here?" he asked as he took a seat next to her on the bed.

"Oh not much, I've gone to train with Hikari in the gym a few times. I spend a lot of time with Akitsu in the library, she's really nice, if a little quiet." she said

"That she is." Tetsuya said with a smile.

"So why the library?" he asked.

"I love to read books, they help me escape the cruel reality of the Sekirei plan. It sucks that one day we're all going to have to fight each other." she said sadly.

"Hibiki, you'll never have to fight your sister or any of the others if I can help it. But besides the whole having to fight thing, we don't have such a bad thing going on here do we?" he said with a half smile as he looked into her hazel eyes. She blushed and flashed him a small grin.

"I suppose not, we have a nice roof over out heads, plenty of food and money. It could be worse. And to top it all off, I get to spend my days with my handsome Ashikabi who cares enough about me to visit me just because he wants to see me." she said as she looked into his gray eyes.

"You think I'm handsome?" he asked with a grin.

"Well yeah, I mean have you seen yourself shirtless? You're very handsome." she said with a small giggle as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Well I'm glad you think so. Hey I gotta go do a few things, but I'll see you when we go out on patrol. Okay?"

"Okay, I'll see you then." she said as he got up off the bed and headed over to the door.

"Hey." she said as he reached for the door handle.

"Yes?" he said as he turned to face her.

"Thanks for coming to visit me." she said.

"No problem, I was happy to do it." he said with a smile as he opened the door and walked out into the hallway.

He headed down the hall to Hikari's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in. Ha, I got you now!" he heard from inside.

"No! No no no no no!" he heard another from inside call out as he entered the room.

He looked around to see Toyotama and Hikari sitting on the bed in the middle of the room, both holding controllers and apparently engrossed in a fighting game that was displayed on the large wall-mounted TV that occupied one of the room's walls.

"C'mon I want a rematch." Toyotama said as what Tetsuya guessed was Hikari's character in the game delivered a vicious combo to Toyotama's character, resulting in the letters KO to flash across the screen.

"Why are you so eager to lose again?" Hikari said smugly.

"Well if we were in a real fight I would kick you ass and you know it." Toyotama said angrily.

"You wanna go?" Hikari asked as a lightning bolt appeared above her hand.. Tetsuya cleared his throat loudly to remind Hikari of his rule not to use their powers outside Sekirei fights or the gym. Hikari looked up at Tetsuya, as she seemed to notice him in her room for the first time. The lightning bolt in her hand fizzled out soon after.

"Hey Toyotama, can you give us a minute?" she said. In response to this, Tetsuya saw an all-too-familiar gleam appear in Toyotama's eyes.

"Hmm, why don't we just share him. I don't mind if you don't" she said seductively.

"Not that kind of visit Toyotama." Tetsuya said with a chuckle.

"C'mon Akitsu got a turn with you, why can't I?" Toyotama said as she stuck out her bottom lip and pouted.

"Who told you about that?" Tetsuya asked. Toyotama gasped,

"Oh my god, I was just kidding but you actually did it! This is just too good!" she said excitedly. Tetsuya's eyes widened as she said this. Toyotama was a notorious gossip and she was gonna tell everyone who would listen about this.

"Alright, I'm gonna go. But I'm gonna want a turn soon." she said the last part in a whisper as she walked past him to the door and gave his butt a squeeze. Tetsuya sighed, he was not gonna enjoy dealing with the repercussions of that, but that wasn't why he was here. He turned to look at Hikari, she was wearing a dark purple tube top with the number 11 on her chest and short jean shorts.

"Hey Hikari how have you been the last few days? Sorry I took so long to swing by, but I've been super busy." he said as he walked over and sat next to her. She held up her hand and sent a small jolt of lightning at him, stinging him as it hit him in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed his arm where the lightning had hit him.

"That was for not coming to visit earlier. And this-" she said as she grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him into a forceful kiss on the lips, he felt her tongue enter his mouth and begin to explore his mouth, he moaned in to her mouth as their tongues began to wrestle.

"Is for coming at all." she said as she pulled away, he noticed her her cheeks were flushed as she pulled away from him.

"Well that was delightfully bipolar of you." he said.

"Glad you enjoyed it." she said with a smirk.

"Next time, skip the lightning though." he said with a chuckle.

"Or what? Are you gonna spank me?" she said as she leaned in close to him

"I just might." Tetsuya said as he rested his forehead against her own.

"And I just might let you." she said seductively as she leaned in to kiss him.

"Maybe another time." he said as he pulled away.

"I'm gonna hold you to that. So what's up?" she said as she swung her legs over the edge of her bed.

"Why does something have to be up for me to wanna visit one of my Sekireis?" he asked

"I don't know... I guess I just thought with how busy you've been recently you wouldn't have time for me." she said as she looked down at the bed.

"Now that's just crazy. You aren't just my Sekirei Hikari, you're my friend and I will always have time for you. You are one of the most important things in my life." he said with a smile, causing Hikari to blush.

"Aw jeez, now you got me all embarrassed." she said, as she looked away from him Tetsuya could swear he saw her grin. Tetsuya reached up with one hand and gently brushed some of her hair that had fallen to cover her face from view behind her ear, a gesture that surprised them both in its intimacy.

"Hey, have I ever told you that I love you?" she said quietly as she turned back to look at him.

"No, but you didn't have to, I could already tell." he said as he gazed at her lovingly.

"How could you tell?" she asked. In response, he reached up with one hand and traced the outline of her Sekirei crest at the base of her neck. Her face lit up in recognition as she realized what he meant.

"Oh..." she said simply.

"Yep." he said. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Tetsuya said,

"Hey I forgot to tell you that Yume will be coming with us on patrol today. And I'd love to stay, but I have to take care of a few things, I'll see you later."

"Okay, I can't wait." she said eagerly. Tetsuya was reaching for the door handle when she said,

"Were you serious about what you said to Toyotama earlier?" she asked.

"About what?" he asked as he turned to face her

"Did you really... do it with Akitsu?" she asked quietly.

"I did." he said plainly, he had nothing to hide. He was unashamed about what they'd done that night.

"Was it because you love her most?" she asked quietly.

"No, I'd almost done it with Uzume a few days ago, but I felt like it'd be cheating if I did. Then she explained that at least she didn't mind sharing me and it took me a few days to get used to the idea. So when Akitsu visited me that night, the mood was right and I felt close to her because no matter what happened she's always had faith in me. So it happened. Does that bother you?" he asked.

"A little." she said quietly as she started to stare at the floor

"Does it bother you because I had sex with her or because you think I chose her over the rest of you?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"I'm not sure... But if I had to guess, I'd say it was the second one." she said.

"Hikari, I haven't chosen any one of you over the others. I'm not like Minato, I'm not gonna choose just one of you to love more than the others. Maybe someday I will, but I don't think I'll ever be able to choose just one of you when you're all so amazing." Tetsuya said to her.

"Do you think... we could ever do that?" she said as she looked at him.

"Are you kidding Hikari? I was two seconds from taking you to bed a few minutes ago, and if I didn't have stuff to do I'd be more than happy to spend some more time with you and see where things went,, and if things got physical, cool. If not, that's fine too. What you need to know Hikari is that I love you, but no more or no less than I do Akitsu or any of the others. I can't do anything to prove it and I'm not gonna jump through hoops to prove my love for you like some Shonen manga. Hikari, we're both adults in a complicated relationship. All I can do is ask you to trust me. Do you trust me Hikari?" he said calmly. Hikari was silent for a long while until, finally she said,

"I do trust you Tetsuya, you saved Hibiki and I from Higa. You took us in when you could have just as easily turned us away. I trust you to the end of the earth and beyond." she said with a smile as she looked once more into his steel-gray eyes.

"Thank you Hikari. I'll see you on patrol." he said with a smile as he stood up. She smiled back at him, and as he once more reached for the doorknob she said,

"I'm gonna hold you to that promise earlier."

"Which one?" he asked as he turned to look back at her.

"You know which one." she said with a wink.

"Oh... That one." he said knowingly as he remembered the not quite promise they'd made earlier.

"Looking forward to it." he said with a wink back at her as he closed the door behind him and headed to Akitsu's room. As he neared the door, he could feel the mark on his shoulder start to tingle. He paid it no mind. He knocked twice on the door.

"Come in, Tetsuya." he heard from inside. He opened the door to see Akitsu bent over as she was going through a pile of books on her nightstand.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked as he stepped inside. She stood up and turned to face him.

"I don't know, it just felt like you." she said.

"Huh. I didn't know the bond between a Sekirei and Ashikabi came with GPS. Good fact to know. Hey, I just came to let you know Yume will be joining us on patrol. Is that cool?" he said. Akitsu gave him a small grin at his joke.

"That's fine." she said in her usual quiet tone.

"Oh, and before I go you should know Toyotama knows what happened the night before the meeting with Mikogami between us, so expect everyone to know soon enough." he said quickly. Akitsu nodded,

"That's fine. I don't care if she knows... Do you?" she asked as she walked up to him.

"No, I don't care if she knows. We didn't do anything wrong. And I'm not ashamed of doing that with you. I love you and if the moment feels right, I'd do it again." he said as he took her cool hands in his own. She smiled at him as she said.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'd like to do that again sometime, it felt... amazing." she said the last part in a whisper as she started to blush.

"It was great for me too. Which is odd considering it was my first time. I've heard the first time is always weird, but with you it just felt..." he said as his voice trailed off while he searched for the right adjective to describe his first time with a woman.

"Right?" Akitsu offered.

"That's the word!" Tetsuya exclaimed excitedly.

"I feel the same way." she said.

"Hey, I'd love to stay but I'm gonna catch some Z's before patrol. See you soon, okay?" he said. Akitsu nodded in response.

He headed back to his room and laid down on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

_He was standing on a rooftop. He looked around to see if he was alone he turned around to see a woman with long blonde hair dressed in a black dress and long brown boots with black stockings looking out over the city facing away from him._

"_I have finally found thee." she says without turning around._

"_Found who?" he asks simply._

"_You. My Ashikabi. Now prepare thyself for death!" she exclaims as she turns around, shooting a jet of water at him from her outstretched hand which obscured his view of her face as it hit him in the face._

He awoke with a gasp to see Hibiki in his room, leaning over him.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, just a weird dream. Is it time to go?" he asked. Hibiki nodded.

"Alright, I'll be right out."

"Okay, see you soon." she said as she walked back out into the hallway.

Tetsuya got off his bed and fished out the sword from underneath his bed, admiring the workmanship once again as he did. He looked at the tsuba, which looked like to wagtails circling the blade and the black silk wrapping around the handle. He examined the beautiful rippling of the metal along the edge of the blade be for sheathing it and heading out to see Akitsu and Yume in their normal outfits. The Twins however were dressed in leather suits that screamed "Dominatrix".

"Wow, those are some outfits you two are wearing." he said, gesturing tow the Twins' attire.

"Yeah, these are our battle outfits. What do you think?" Hikari asked seductively.

"Non-PG thoughts are what I think." Tetsuya said.

After that they headed out on an uneventful patrol. After they finished Tetsuya decided to visit Chiho in the hospital. He walked down the hospital hallway until he reached Chiho's room and knocked on the door.

"Hey Chiho it's Tetsuya, mind if I come in?" he called through the door.

"Come on in." he heard her say from the other side. Tetsuya opened the door and started to walk inside.

"Hey Chiho, this is Akitsu, Yume, Hikari, and Hibiki-. HOLY CRAP IT'S KAZEHANA!" he exclaimed as he opened the door to see Sekirei No. 3, Kazehana, the Wind Sekirei bent over Chiho's hospital bed...

_Back at MBI..._

"Here are those test results you wanted Ms. Sahashi." a lab tech said as he rushed over to Takami and handed her a manilla folder that contained the results of Tetsuya's earlier blood test and full body scan. She took out the pictures and put them up on the light they used to examine X-rays and looked over the picture. Until she noticed something odd in his chest and the area around the mark. She knew she'd seen it somewhere before, not in any human but in every single Sekirei she had ever encountered.

"Oh, Minaka's gonna love this." she said with a grin. But then a thought occurred to her, what if she didn't tell Minaka? What if, for once in her life she actually hid something from him and did something to stop his twisted game?

This scan showed that Tetsuya had a Sekirei core, which would render him vulnerable to the Jinki; even if it was just one of them. As well as what appeared to be a semi-functional Sekirei crest on his shoulder, the folder indicated that the tissue in the area around the mark functioned in a way similar to the way a Sekirei crest linked them to their Ashikabi, except in this case Tetsuya was linked to Sekirei #07. And if these results were any indication Tetsuya could form a physical connection to multiple Sekireis. She couldn't be sure, but Takami would bet that the connection would be slowly removing the limiter on #07's powers. This appeared to be a new level of the winging process. She needed to figure out what was different with his relationship to #07 and what had caused this mark to form, it couldn't be kissing. She'd seen him with his Sekireis, the boy kissed them all all the time. What was different about him and #07? She needed to think about what she was gonna do...

AN: Alrighty, here it is. Please review and don't forget to vote on the poll. Only one Sekirei is set in stone for that OC. Sorry if the last part is a bit hard to understand, I tried to simplify it as much as possible.


	16. Secrets Shared Are No Secrets At All

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the positive reviews last chapter you guys. As always, don't forget to vote on the poll and review... and I guess that's it. Now onto the next chapter.

Chapter 16- Secrets Shared Are No Secrets At All

Upon entering the hospital room and seeing the Sekirei that had attacked Tetsuya a week ago, Tetsuya's Sekireis had all prepared themselves for battle. There was a crackling sound and the smell of the air after a lightning storm as Hibiki and Hikari had summoned lightning bolts to their fingertips. The temperature in the room began to fall as Akitsu conjured ice spears and pointed them at Kazehana. Yume struck a fighting pose, an orb of pink energy appearing in one of her hands.

"Kazehana, what's going on? Do you know Tetsuya?" Chiho asked from her hospital bed in response to Tetsuya's outburst. Kuno was sound asleep in a chair at the far end of the room, seemingly oblivious to the spectacle in the doorway.

"Well I sorta do." Kazehana said as she rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"It's kinda complicated." Tetsuya cut in, he didn't think Chiho needed to hear about Kazehana's work for Higa. It'd probably only make things worse.

"It's not important though. What's important is- you girls can put all that away now." Tetsuya said as he noticed his Sekireis were still in combat poses.

"But Tetsuya-" Hikari began to say.

"I don't think Chiho needs us destroying her hospital room and possibly hurting one of the few people in the world who cares for her over a situation that we don't even have all the facts about." Tetsuya said as he turned to face them.

Akitsu nodded and Tetsuya watched as the ice spears disappeared. Hibiki nodded as her lightning fizzled out. Yume took her normal stance and allowed the orb of energy to dissipate. Hikari however, maintained the lightning bolt crackling over her until Tetsuya stared to tap the butt of his sword's scabbard against the ground impatiently. Finally with an obvious effort, she let the lightning bolt in her hand disappear.

"What's going on? Is everything alright Tetsuya?" Chiho asked as she propped herself up against the head of her hospital bed.

"Yeah, everything's fine Chiho. Is it cool if I talk to Kazehana out in the hall for a few minutes though?" Tetsuya asked as he walked over to Chiho's bedside. Chiho looked like she had a million questions for him, but for some reason she simply turned to Kazehana and asked her,

"Kazehana, would you mind?"

"Of course not, I'm sure we'll be done talking soon. Then, I'll be right back." she said to her Ashikabi. Chiho nodded and Kazehana turned and headed toward the door, Tetsuya following close behind her.

"Alright, I'll bring her right back." he said as he followed Kazehana out the door. He closed it quietly behind him and walked over to the window on the opposite side of the hallway where Kazehana was leaning leisurely against the wall, gazing out the window at the hospital courtyard. He leaned his sword against the wall next to a vending machine and walked over next to Kazehana and looked out the window at the Shinto Teitou skyline.

"So, are you here to terminate me for attacking you last week?" she asked casually as she continued to stare out the window.

"Nope, I didn't even know you'd be here. I came to see Chiho." he said without looking at her.

"Why would you visit her? What is she to you?" she asked as she turned to look at him with curiosity. Tetsuya sighed as he stared out the window. What was Chiho to him? He didn't know how to answer that. He'd only known her for a day, but he felt weirdly protective of her for some reason. He wracked his brain, trying to think of some way to answer Kazehana. Until finally he said,

"I guess she's a reminder of all the good Sekireis can do for a person. Whether it's giving a hospitalized girl a reason to live; or in my case, giving a lonely boy a chance to meet the mother he never knew growing up. But the bottom line is I wanna help her.".

"Well thanks, but I'm already doing everything I can to help her." she said as she crossed her arms.

"How? By working for Higa? He's bad news Kazehana, what could he possibly offer her?" Tetsuya asked as he turned to face the wind manipulator. She gave him a hard look as she said,

"I take out Sekireis and Ashikabis for him and he pays for Chiho's treatment." she said as she turned to look out the window again.

"But it's not really doing anything to help is it? It's just delaying the inevitable, isn't it?" Tetsuya asked her bluntly. He watched as Kazehana's eyes began to tear up. She nodded wordlessly and covered her face with her hands began to cry silently into her hands.

"I'm a failure as a Sekirei. I'm supposed to protect her, but all my strength can't protect her from a virus that's slowly killing her. All I can do is sit and watch as I prolong the inevitable. The one person I've cared about since _him, the first person who wouldn't just be a substitute for him, who I cared for as a sister not as a lover _and I'm forced to watch her die." she sobbed. Tetsuya silently reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me help her. I can have her transferred to an MBI facility. She can receive care that's just as good, if not better than she does here. I'm not saying they can cure her, but you've got the best shot with them." he said quietly to her.

"No, Minaka will just want something in return, he always does. And I promised myself I was done with him a long time ago." she said bitterly as she leaned her forehead against the window.

"No he won't, MBI allows all Ashikabis and Sekireis to use their facilities for free." he said to her.

"Oh yeah? And what if we go crawling to him for help and he says no or he turns it into some sick event and it puts Chiho in danger. You say you care about her, could you live with yourself if she gets hurt or we fail and Minaka says no? What do we do then?" she asked him as she glared at him angrily.

"He won't say no to caring for her, as an Ashikabi she'd allowed to use the facilities anyway. And even if he can't cure her without turning it into some sick game, it still gets you out from under Higa's thumb. And how do you think Chiho would react if she knew what he was forcing you to do? I saw it in your eyes when you attacked me, it's killing you working for him. Please let me help, Kazehana." he pleaded with her.

"Why are you so set on this?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because, I wanna help Chiho, she deserves the best shot she can get if she's gonna beat this thing. Also I'm not gonna lie, it helps me screw over Higa. I've had it with his rule-breaking and his using Ashikabis and Sekireis as tools, it needs to stop." he said with conviction. Kazehana was silent for a while as she stared into his eyes as she tried to determine if he was lying or not. After a few minutes, she decided he was telling at least part of the truth.

"Alright, where do you suppose we start with this little transfer of yours?" she asked

"I'll give Minaka a call later and ask him and see what it'd take to get her transferred to one of his facilities. Right now, I just wanna see how she's doing. I'll leave telling her and Kuno up to you. Okay?" he said to her. She nodded in response.

He turned around and walked over to the wall and picked up his sword from the wall when he felt Kazehana grab him from behind in a hug.

"Thank you, for trying to help. I can't tell you how much it means to me and it's gonna mean a ton to Chiho as well when I tell her. It's rare to find someone in this game who cares about others, not just themselves. Your Sekireis are very lucky, Tetsuya." she said.

"I'm the lucky one, I don't know where I'd be without them all. I need them _way _more than they need me." he said as he removed her hands from his chest. His voice was full of love when he spoke, and Kazehana noticed it. She smiled a little, as he reached for the door handle she grabbed his hand before he could open the door.

"Do you love them?" she asked, knowing full well what his answer was gonna be.

"More than anything." he said with a smile as he turned to face her.

"Have you been intimate with any of them?" she asked with a mischievous grin. Tetsuya looked taken aback at her question.

"That's kinda personal, isn't it?" he asked her, unsure of why she was asking him this out of the blue when they barely knew each other.

"C'mon we're both adults? I'll tell you if you tell me." she said with the same mischievous grin as before.

"I'm fairly certain you haven't done anything with Chiho." he said nonchalantly with a chuckle.

"But I might have, don't you wanna be sure?" she said, trying to intrigue him into answering.

"No, I don't. What an Ashikabi and Sekirei do behind closed doors is no one's business but their own" he said flatly, as he remembered his situation at home with Akitsu..

"I'm guessing you've been intimate with one or more of them, but the others found out and aren't too happy they haven't had a turn yet." she said knowingly.

"How'd you know?" he asked, amazed that she had been able to figure it out so quickly.

"I didn't, I was just guessing." she said with a smile and a wink as she walked past him and walked back into Chiho's room. Tetsuya followed her in to see Kuno had woken up and was socializing with Yume and the others over by Chiho's bed. Tetsuya spent an hour and a half talking to Chiho, Kuno, and Kazehana. Kazehana told Chiho how MBI could give her better treatment for her illness, and maybe even cure her. She also explained it was gonna take Tetsuya a few days to arrange the transfer.

Chiho was ecstatic to hear the news that she'd soon be able to spend more time with Kuno and Kazehana. But soon after explaining all this to her, the excitement became too much for Chiho and she began to cough uncontrollably and they had to call a doctor to in, after which they were asked to leave while they got her stabilized.

"We've seen this before, once she get stabilized she's gonna be tired the rest of the day. We should get going, it's getting late." Kazehana said as she took Kuno's hand and turned to leave.

"Wait why don't you stay with us? We've got plenty of room, and that way you'll be able to be right there when we get news on being able to transfer her." Tetsuya offered as they started to go.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Tetsuya? They are already winged, that means we'll have to fight them one day." Yume asked softly in his ear.

"I have every faith in you girls should a fight arise. I mean we do outnumber them 9 to 2, we'll be fine. Besides, I trust them for now." Tetsuya replied confidently. Yume nodded and remained silent after that.

"That sounds nice. What do you think Kazehana?" Kuno asked the older woman. Kazehana looked for a minute as if she was about to protest, but then decided not to.

"Alright, that sounds fine. It's not like we have any special reason to stay at the apartment. I'll meet you guys at the Tower, I'm gonna go grab our stuff from the apartment. I'll see you guys later." Kazehana said as she turned and started to leave the hospital.

After that they headed back home to the Tower. When they arrived Tetsuya saw Saki waiting in the common area for them. The Sekirei was practically bouncing with excitement as they exited the elevator.

"Can I help you Saki?" He asked as he stepped off the elevator with Kuno and the others.

"I just came to tell you Takami wants to see you and number 07 in her lab immediately. She sent me to escort you personally." she said as she stood up to greet them.

"Oh... Okay then, let's go Akitsu. I'll see the rest of you later, be sure to make Kuno feel welcome. I guess you're coming with me Akitsu." he said as he turned and re-boarded the elevator.

Akitsu nodded and followed him back into the elevator. Saki skipped into the elevator and hit the button to take them to the floor that housed the R&D department. They rode in silence while Saki bounced up and down on the balls of her feet until Tetsuya finally asked,

"Okay Saki, what is going on with you?" he asked the bouncing Sekirei.

"I finally found an Ashikabi!" she gushed happily as she threw her hands in the air.

"Oh that's great! Who is it?" he asked happily. If Saki had an Ashikabi, she'd stop bothering him for Minaka.

"I'm not ready to say, but he's very big and manly. He treats me like a princess when we spend time together." she said as put her index finger on her chin an adorable girly expression.

"Well, I'm glad you found someone who treats you right." he said with a smile.

"Yes, you deserve someone who loves you." Akitsu said supportively.

"I only wish he didn't have that other **whore **of a Sekirei!" Saki said as she stomped her foot angrily.

"Don't worry Saki, I'm sure he'll love you both." Tetsuya said.

"What if he doesn't though?I know #57 has already slept with him. What if he doesn't like me just 'cuz I'm not ready to have sex? It's fine if I wanna wait right? I just want my first time to be special." Saki said as she blushed and pressed her index fingers together nervously.

"It's totally fine if you wanna wait, no one can fault you for wanting your first time to be special." Tetsuya said as he glanced over at Akitsu, causing her to smile at him. He smiled back at her as he added,

"Any man who doesn't love his Sekirei just 'cuz she won't put out, isn't worthy of being an Ashikabi. If he doesn't treat you right, you gimme a call. Okay Saki?" Tetsuya said as he placed his hand on Saki's shoulder.

"Thanks, Tetsuya. That means a lot to me." she said as she threw her arms around him in a hug. Akitsu narrowed her eyes menacingly at the spy Sekirei. Tetsuya's eyes widened as he saw ice crystals appear in the air around him. Tetsuya gingerly extricated himself from Saki's embrace. There was a ding as the elevator slid open.

"Oh sweet Buddha thank you." he exclaimed as he quickly exited the powder keg of an elevator to see Takami Sahashi standing with a clipboard in front of him. Takami raised an eyebrow at him in a silent question.

"Long story, not important now. So what did you want?" Tetsuya asked with a casual wave of his hand as Akitsu walked up beside him and took his other hand in hers.

"Could you two come with me? I've got some questions for you two." she said as she turned and led them into her lab. Tetsuya followed her inside and took a seat against the wall with Akitsu. He noticed that Akitsu's grip on his hand became quite a bit stronger as they entered the instrument-filled lab. Tetsuya turned to ask her what was wrong, but noticed when he turned to ask her that she appeared very uncomfortable, even a little scared.

"Akitsu, is everything alright?" he whispered in her ear as he took a seat next to her. Akitsu shook her head, not saying a word. She had even began to sweat, and in the 2 months he had known her. He had only once seen her exert herself enough to sweat.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

"I... am uncomfortable being in a lab once again." she said quietly.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked with concern.

"The last time I was in a lab it resulted in me being thrown away. I lost, or rather I thought I lost my chance to find an Ashikabi." she said as she swallowed hard, still obviously uncomfortable.

"Oh, okay. I think I understand. I know that incident was a difficult time for you. Just remember that regardless of what happened you found an Ashikabi." Tetsuya said as he gave her hand a squeeze, trying to be supportive.

He knew that the incident in the lab had been one of the most traumatic experiences in her life, it was completely reasonable that she would have issues being back in a lab in the same building as the incident. Akitsu smiled and nodded and gave his hand another squeeze.

"So I finally figured out what that mark was on your shoulder." Takami said as she walked over to a desk and picked a folder up off the desk and removed a picture of an X-ray from it and hung it up on lighted board on the wall.

"Oh yeah?" Tetsuya asked with interest.

"Yeah, it appears to be structurally similar to a Sekirei crest. To put it simply, it appears Akitsu winged you in some form or another. Which is why it left a mark on you. Though I would venture to guess you could be winged by multiple Sekireis. I can only hypothesize on its function other than to deepen the bond between you and her." she explained as she turned to face him.

"Hmm, the Ice Sekirei left a snowflake on me. A bit cliched, but makes enough sense." he said with a shrug.

"Whatever the case is, it seems that the mark on your shoulder is only the beginning." Takami said as she hung up another X-ray on the board.

"What do you mean? I haven't seen any other marks." Tetsuya asked.

"No, but it seems you now have a Sekirei core." Takami said as she gestured to a round structure on the X-ray.

"Say what?" Tetsuya said, not quite grasping what Takami meant.

"It's an organ in Sekireis that is the source of their powers. Your father always called it the soul of a Sekirei. It doesn't appear like you are gaining any powers from it, at least no Natural-Type ones. Though, I've heard from Saki that you're learning swordsmanship for Karasuba and you're getting quite good at it." She explained in a neutral tone.

"Well I'm glad you think so, but I'm still no match for Karasuba or my mother." he replied.

"That's actually another thing I wanted to talk to you about. I believe the reason you are exhibiting all these strange symptoms, is due to your mother." she said.

"Are you implying that this is a sickness? I don't know what this is, but if it helps me be closer to my Sekireis, I think it's a good thing. And I fail to see what my mom has to do with this." he said with controlled anger clearly evident in his voice.

"I used the term loosely, I don't think your sick in any way. What I meant about your mother being responsible for this is that her physiology as a "pillar" is something none of us, save your father, ever really understood. Before the Sekirei are winged they are linked some how to the pillar of the Sekirei ship they arrived on Earth with. Your mother is the only one we've ever had a chance to study, though I believe that each of the pillars is modified on the ship to be physiologically similar to the race of the planet that the Sekireis land on to find Ashikabi. Hence, why I have only theories to offer you." she finished calmly.

"Alright last question, why did Akitsu have to come? I'm sure she'd rather be somewhere else right now, and I see no benefit of her being forced to revisit the site of a past trauma." Tetsuya asked.

"I needed her her to be able to ascertain what is different in the relationship between you and her that resulted in the mark on your shoulder forming. I apologize for any inconvenience I'm causing either of you." Takami explained as she grabbed her clipboard and readied her pencil.

"Well, I don't know how you'd define it." he said as he rubbed his thumb along the back of Akitsu's knuckles gently, causing the Ice Sekirei to blush and put her hands in her lap. Tetsuya smiled, she was so passionate when they were alone but she was still uncomfortable with public displays of affection, even after they'd been intimate. He thought it was just adorable.

"Akitsu's always had faith in me, even when the others doubted me. Other than that, there's nothing I can think of." he said.

"Well... There is one other difference." Akitsu said as she blushed and looked down and pressed her fingers together nervously.

"What's the difference?" Takami asked as she looked up at them.

"Yeah what... Oh." Tetsuya said as he realized what Akitsu was referring to.

"What?" Takami asked as she furrowed her brow while she tried to explain their strange behavior to herself.

"Akitsu is... the only one of my Sekireis I've been... intimate with." Tetsuya said uncomfortably. He was uncomfortable talking about this with Takami. It was different when he talked with his Sekireis about it, it wasn't like he boasted about it, but he didn't mind sharing things with them. But he didn't trust Takami, but it wasn't like he could keep things from her, if he did she'd run to Minaka and he couldn't have that.

"Ah. I see." she said as she wrote something down on her clipboard.

After that Takami explained how the Sekirei core made Tetsuya vulnerable to the effects Jinki. She promised not to tell Minaka, but Tetsuya still needed to be careful, the Game Master had enforcers other than Saki and the Disciplinary Squad. Tetsuya exited the lab to see Minato and a crowd of Sekireis exiting the elevator.

"Hey Minato, what are you doing here?" Tetsuya asked, he was surprised to see Minato in the Tower of all places.

"Hey Tetsuya. I'm just here to visit my mom." he explained. It was then that he noticed Tetsuya and Akitsu staring at the crowd of Sekireis behind him.

"Oh sorry. Tetsuya I'd like to introduce you to Kaho, Namiji, Nanaha, and Ikki. You already know Matsu, Musubi, Kusano, and Yashima." he said gesturing to each of the girls as he mentioned them.

"Hello, nice to meet you all. I'd love to say and catch up Minato, but I've got a meeting with Minaka to get to. Why don't you head to the 79th floor when you're done so we can catch up." he said as he rushed over to the elevator and hit the button on the wall that would take him to see the president. He arrived at the president's floor a few minutes later and entered his office.

"Hello Tetsuya, what can I do for you?" Minaka asked in his normal grandiose way of speaking.

"Hey, I Came to ask you for a favor..." said apprehensively as he approached Minaka's massive desk.

Tetsuya explained his plan to have Chiho transferred to the tower for treatment. He even went so far as to point out that if Higa continued to use Kazehana for his own ends, it would most likely cost Minaka many chances to observe interesting battles if Kazehana would be terminated due to Chiho's death. Much to to his surprise, Minaka agreed to Tetsuya's proposal. His only stipulation was that Tetsuya had to transport Chiho to MBI tower before he did. Tetsuya agreed, since it made sense that Higa would most likely not allow MBI vehicles on the premises. As Tetsuya rode the elevator back down to his floor he turned on his phone and called Kazehana's cell number that Kuno had given him, it rang 6 times before going to voicemail.

"Hey Kazehana, Minaka said yes. I'll move Chiho to the tower for treatment tomorrow. I guess I'll see you when you get here." he said as he hung up.

The door of the elevator opened to reveal the common area on his floor that was now filled to bursting with Sekirei. He stepped off the elevator to see Matsu, Uzume, and Haihane seated at the bar area next to the kitchen. Benitsubasa, Musubi, Kaho, and Toyotama were headed to the gym to train if Tetsuya had to guess. Namiji and Ikki were talking to Hikari and Hibiki. Kusano and Yashima were talking to Akitsu and Kuno near the television. Matsu and Uzume spotted him as he stepped off the elevator and waved him over. He walked over to the bar and took a seat between Haihane and Uzume.

"Hey Tetsuya, it's been a while. How've you been?" Matsu asked as he sat down.

"I've been busy with work, I've been meaning to find a reason to stop by the inn without having to be injured. So, when did Minato get all these new Sekirei? He only had 4 last time I saw you." Tetsuya asked.

"I don't know it seems like every time he leaves the house he comes back with a new one. It's so bad that I haven't had a chance to experiment with him at all in the past week." the hacker pouted. Tetsuya chuckled and was about to ask her how things were at the inn when his phone began to ring. He held up a finger when he saw it was Kazehana that was calling.

"Hey Kazehana-" he began to say.

"Tetsuya, I need your help!. Higa found out we were gonna move Chiho somehow and he's sending Sekirei to the hospital so you won't be able to get to her. We need to move her now! If we wait any longer she won't be safe from the fighting." Kazehana said in a hurried voice.

"How did he find out?" Tetsuya asked, afraid that he already knew the answer.

"Is everything alright, Tetsuya?" Uzume asked, sounding concerned.

"I don't know. His secretary has a Brain-type it might be that. But I doesn't matter. What matters is that we need to move her now! You said you care about her, here's your chance to prove it." Kazehana said.

"I'll be right there." he said as he hung the phone up. He turned to face Matsu.

"Is everything alright?" she asked when she saw the serious expression on his face.

"No, it's not. C'mon Uzume, you too Haihane. Chiho needs our help. I'm gonna go grab my sword. Have everyone ready to go by then." he said as he stood up. Uzume nodded and ran over to the gym while Haihane took off for the television to tell Akitsu. Tetsuya took off for his room. He arrived in his room and threw on his jacket and grabbed his sword from beside his book case. He headed back out to see all of his Sekireis gathered in front of the elevator.

"Alright, it looks like Higa figured out my plan for Chiho and has decided to do his best to stop me. I say we show him why that's a bad idea." he said confidently. In response to this he saw Toyotama, Benitsubasa, Karasuba, Hikari, and Hibiki grin. He knew that many of his Sekireis had been looking for a chance to cut loose and put the hurt on Higa ever since Kazehana had attacked him. But before he could continue some one tapped him on the shoulder from behind. He turned to see Minato and Matsu standing behind him.

"We've got another problem." said Minato as he handed Tetsuya his phone. Tetsuya took the phone and saw a message displayed on the screen.

_To all participants in the Sekirei Plan,_

_All but one of the little birds have been winged at this point. Now the last one is out there looking for her Ashikabi, will you be the one to wing the Water Sekirei?_

_Sincerely,_

_The Game Master._

At the end of the message there was a set of coordinates. Tetsuya recognized them as a map reference that was somewhere in the southeast part of the city. Right in the overlap of where Higa's territory ended and Mikogami's began...

"Hey Matsu, do you have a picture of the Water Sekirei?" Tetsuya asked as he handed Minato's phone back to him. Matsu nodded and produced a tablet computer from between her cleavage and began to type furiously for a few seconds before handing it to him. Tetsuya examined the picture on the screen and recognized the woman from his dream.

"Shit! Karasuba, take Akitsu, Benitsubasa, and the Twins to Hiyamakai Hospital and make sure Chiho gets to the tower unharmed. Yume, you and I along with Uzume, Toyotama, and Haihane are gonna head out to find the Water Sekirei. I saw her in a dream like I did with Akitsu and while I won't forcibly wing her. I sure as hell don't want Mikogami or Higa to forcibly wing her. We'll figure out who she wants to wing her after this. I just know if I don't do something, she'll end up forcibly winged by one of those two. Now let's go." Tetsuya said as he entered the elevator with his other Sekireis.

_A few minutes later in the southeast section of the city..._

Mutsu dodged yet another blast of water that No. 09 had shot at him before slamming the butt of his scabbard into the ground as he landed on the street 15 feet away from her.

"Kasaiten!(Smashing Point!)" he said as the shockwave from his attack caused a stone to erupt from the ground and strike Tsukiumi in the stomach sending her tumbling to the ground. Mutsu moved forward to collect her when he felt a blade at his throat.

"Now, now, Mutsu. You shouldn't be attacking young ladies." he heard a voice say as he felt a familiar aura of dread settle over him...

End Of Chapter

Author's Note: Please read and review as always. I've gotta say I've always wanted to write a combat scene involving Miya and I think I might do just that next chapter. Also don't forget to vote on the poll. It looks like Yomi is gonna make the cut for the next story, though I'm disappointed that no one else voted for Mutsu, I've always thought he was an interesting character. Anyways, Enjoy!


	17. A New Warrior On The Battlefield

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright, I got 6 new reviews last chapter and more than 1,000 hits in under 2 days. Along with a few new votes on the poll, Yomi is still in the lead. I think I'm also gonna use Matsu since even as a main characters she gets little screen time. Also I'm thinking of turning this into a two-part story. I still intend to finish Tetsuya's story, but I want to take a small break from him while I work on some other projects. I also don't want this one story to be a 40-chapter epic. This chapter is gonna be mostly action so it will likely be fairly short.

Chapter 17- A New Warrior On The Battlefield

_A few minutes before the conclusion of our previous chapter..._

Tetsuya leaped between buildings followed closely by Yume, Uzume, Toyotama, and Haihane. They had departed the tower only seconds ago and were on their way to the southeast sector of the city.

"Yume, any ideas as to what we'll be dealing with when we get there?" he asked the most experienced Sekirei in the group.

"Their will most likely be many enemy Sekirei from the East and South's flocks. This is the last Sekirei that hasn't emerged on the planet, it will be an all-out war to wing the Water Sekirei. I believe our best chance will be to strike hard, strike fast, and remove her from their reach as soon as possible." she replied, drawing on her years of of experience as chief of the Disciplinary Squad to guide her decisions. Tetsuya nodded in response, he trusted Yume's judgment on this. If anyone was going to be instrumental in retrieving The Water Sekirei, it was gonna be her.

"Alright girls, Yume is officially in charge of this operation. You take your directions from her from here on out. Any objections?" he asked as he leaped off of one building onto another.

"Nope, I'm good with that." he heard Uzume respond.

"I'm fine with that." he heard Toyotama respond.

"No objections here." Haihane chimed in.

"Alright, when we get there what should we-" Tetsuya began to say when his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he said as he answered his phone.

"Hey Tetsuya, it's Karasuba. What's the plan when we get to the hospital?" Karasuba asked. Tetsuya had already formed a plan for the other team heading to the hospital.

"You, Hikari, and Hibiki will be in charge of engaging Higa's forces. Don't kill the Sekireis, if Higa's there feel free to go nuts. Akitsu and Benitsubasa are in charge of escorting Chiho and Kazehana back to the Tower. You're in charge of things on your end though, use your best judgment."

"Gotcha, this is gonna be fun. I'll see you back home." she said as she moved to hang up.

"Wait Karasuba, don't hang up just yet!" he exclaimed.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay on your end?" she asked in what could easily be considered a worried tone.

"Yeah, we're fine. I just wanted to tell you to be careful. I don't wanna lose you, or anyone else for that matter. Just be careful, for me okay?" he said quietly to avoid being heard by the others. Karasuba was silent for a long while as he leaped between buildings, rapidly approaching their destination.

"Alright, I'll be careful. Just promise me you'll be careful too." she replied softly. Tetsuya smiled, normally he didn't like to worry the girls, but he was glad to see Karasuba cared about his safety.

"I promise, I gotta go now we're almost there." he said as he hung up.

He touched down on a roof that was close to where the coordinates that Minaka had sent out indicated to see a car parked in the street with a boy leaning against the hood. Normally this wouldn't bother Tetsuya, except that he recognized the boy as Hayato Mikogami. He was also accompanied by no less than 3 Sekireis. Tetsuya recognized #38 Mitsuha, #39 Mitsuki, and #15 Himeko.

"Looks like he beat us here. Wait a minute- where's No. 05?" he asked as he noticed the absence of Mikogami's strongest Sekirei.

"I don't know, but we've got other problems." Yume said as she gestured to a few of the surrounding rooftops. Tetsuya looked to where she gestured and saw that there were Ashikabis and Sekireis everywhere.

"Dammit, well it looks like we're gonna have to spread out to find her. Yume, you take Uzume and-" he began before he was pushed out of the way by Toyotama.

"Tetsuya, look out!" Toyotama shouted as she pushed him out of the way and raised her staff and blocked an incoming kick from a Sekirei that had attacked Tetsuya from behind. She used her staff to push the attacker away and swung her staff in a wide arc as she attempted to hit the attacker in the stomach. Unfortunately the attacker did a back handspring and dodged out of the way, landing a few feet out of Toyotama's reach.

"Long time no see Toyotama, I see you found an Ashikabi. Now we can finally settle who's the best once and for all." said the attacker.

"Bring it Ichiya, I'm more than ready to take you on. I'm gonna win this time and I'll finally prove I'm the better fighter. Tetsuya I'm gonna take care of this, you go ahead and find No. 09. She needs your help, and it's your job as part of the squad to see that she meets her Ashikabi... Now go, I can handle this." Toyotama said as she took an offensive stance. Tetsuya nodded, he trusted Toyotama's ability to handle herself in combat, she was one of the best fighters he'd ever seen. He leaped off the edge of the building to the roof of a nearby building as Toyotama began to attack Ichiya.

"Tetsuya, we've got bigger problems." Uzume said as she tapped him on the shoulder and gestured to where Mikogami stood. Tetsuya turned to see that his Sekireis had seen them and were beginning to move towards him and his Sekireis. Though when they had crossed approximately half the distance toward him, Mitsuha and Mitsuki were attacked by two more Sekireis. One leaping off from a nearby building swinging a nihontou at Mitsuha. The other attacker appeared in a flash of golden light behind Mitsuki, swinging a vicious curved dagger at her midsection, which Mitsuki narrowly avoided. Himeko continued to advance swiftly towards Tetsuya.

"Haihane, intercept and stop that Sekirei." Yume commanded. Haihane nodded and launched herself at Himeko, succeeding in tearing the top half of her Kimono off with her first attack, revealing the large blade that the enemy Sekirei was wielding. At that moment the two Sekireis that had attacked Mitsuki and Mitsuha landed on the building next to Tetsuya. Himeko cried out in surprise as her clothes were destroyed by the Indigo Sekirei.

"You're getting sloppy Saki, you'll never beat anyone like that." said one of them, she was a dark-skinned Sekirei with jet black hair. She wore a bikini top beneath a small hooded shawl, a buckled sarong, and leather knee-high boots.

"Shut up Yahan! What makes you think I care what you think of me?! I'm a plenty good fighter, better than a teleporting coward like you!" he heard Saki shout back at the other.

Before Tetsuya could remark on Saki's presence on the battlefield, his attention was caught by the sight of a powerful blast of water shooting off the edge of a building to his left. Without waiting to hear their strategy or their next move Tetsuya leaped off the edge of the building toward the source of the water blast. Uzume moved to follow him but before she could follow her Ashikabi, Yume placed a hand on her shoulder.

"This is his battle to fight alone. Besides, we have better things to worry about." Yume said as she pointed across the way to 2 Sekirei wielding a multitude of whips leaping towards them with long powerful jumps. Uzume nodded, she didn't understand what Tetsuya's plan was, but she trusted him.

Tetsuya followed the source of the water blasts until he arrived on a deserted street to see Mutsu walking towards Tsukiumi, who was lying on the ground unconscious. Tetsuya unsheathed his sword silently and rushed over to Mutsu as fast as his legs would carry him. Once he was less than 5 feet away he whipped his blade up and held it against Mutsu's carotid artery.

"Now, now, Mutsu. You shouldn't be attacking young ladies." he said sweetly with an evil grin as his oni mask materialized behind him. Mutsu slowly turned to face him, a glimmer of fear in his eyes.

"My, you certainly are Miya's son. You have the same creepy aura as she did when she was angry. But I'm afraid Mikogami wants this Sekirei, so I'm going to get her for him and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Mutsu said calmly.

"I can't believe a member of the first Disciplinary Squad would actively participate in the forced winging of a Sekirei. I mean your original purpose was to protect the Sekirei and now you're participating in what is nothing short of the purposeful diminishing of the existence of a fellow Sekirei. You make me sick, Mutsu." Tetsuya spat at the Earth Sekirei. Mutsu sighed,

"As an Ashikabi, you can't understand what it's like to be a Sekirei. To be connected to someone who you literally can't live without. To have someone who you build your entire identity around, and whose happiness is more important to you than your own life. I won't explain my motivations to you, you are incapable of understanding them. Now, it's time I ended this." Mutsu said as he spun his scabbard in his hands and raised it above his head and began to bring it down to slam the butt into the ground.

But before he could bring it all the way down Tetsuya grabbed the scabbard in one hand and brought up one foot in a powerful rear leg front kick that struck Mutsu solidly in the chest and sent him tumbling into one of the spurs of rock that erupted from his last attack.

He collided solidly with the stone with a thud. The blow would've killed a human and probably cost most Sekireis their crest. But Tetsuya knew that Mutsu was no ordinary Sekirei. Not only was he a single number, he was a member of the first Disciplinary Squad. All of whom were more powerful than most normal single numbers, but Mutsu was also the Earth Sekirei, he was built to take as much punishment as the element he utilized.

This was not gonna be an easy fight, Tetsuya thought grimly. But he didn't need to terminate Mutsu, he just needed to buy some time until he could either wing Tsukiumi or help her escape. Though, if she was out or more than 15 minutes, he'd need to think of a new strategy. Mutsu had way more experience in battle than Tetsuya did. Despite all his training with Karasuba and all the progress he'd made, Mutsu was battle hardened, and that was infinitely more valuable than any training was.

Tetsuya watched as Mutsu stood up and dusted himself of casually. He turned to look at Tetsuya,

"I see you're not going to make this easy." he said calmly. As soon as he finished speaking Mutsu grabbed the handle of his still sheathed sword and swung with all his might. The result was the scabbard of his sword being launched straight at Tetsuya like a bullet. Tetsuya spun and leaped to the right to avoid the projectile, as he jumped out of the way he sensed Mutsu moving to attack him.

Tetsuya continued to spin until he blocked Mutsu's incoming slash with the flat of his blade. As he blocked Mutsu',s attack he grabbed Mutsu's shoulder with one hand and vaulted over him. While still in midair, he continued his spin while maintaining his grip on his opponent's shoulder and used his momentum to throw Mutsu to the ground. The Earth Sekirei, now lacking his superhuman strength, didn't have the strength to counter Tetsuya's attack and was thrown to the ground, landing on his back. As soon as he hit the ground, Mutsu extended one leg and kicked Tetsuya in the side. Tetsuya grunted in pain as he released his grip on Mutsu. Seeing a chance to finish the battle, Tetsuya stabbed at the ground, hoping to stab through Mutsu's shoulder. Only to have his opponent roll out of the way and back flip to safety, sword still in hand.

"This is gonna be harder than I thought." Mutsu muttered, causing Tetsuya to grin in satisfaction.

Toyotama

She dodged yet another of Ichiya's kicks, this time dodging behind the Fist-Type and slamming the base of her staff into her lower back, sending her opponent sprawling to the ground.

"You've gotten good, Toyotama" Ichiya said as she struggled to her knees and wiped some blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Thanks, you too. But I'm still gonna beat you!" Toyotama said as she leaped forward and swung her staff at Ichiya's side. Ichiya dodged under her staff and delivered a glancing blow with her fist to Toyotama's side, causing her to tumble to the ground. Though as she hit the ground Toyotama used her staff to push herself up and regain her balance. Though before she could move to attack Ichiya, the hand-to-hand fighter launched herself at Toyotama, aiming a kick at her neck. Toyotama moved to block the attack with her staff, it would be instantly fatal if it hit home.

She managed to get her staff up in time to block the attack, but as she moved to block the attack she noticed another Sekirei rush behind her and thrust an arm toward her side. Toyotama managed to twist and leap out of the way just in time to avoid being stabbed in the side. She landed 5 feet away, as she landed she felt a burning sensation in her side. She glanced down to see a bloody gash in her side, it was small but deep. She felt herself becoming dizzy from blood loss. She clutched her hand to her side to try to staunch the bleeding. It helped a little, but she knew she was gonna need medical attention soon.

"That was a dirty trick." she said with a pained voice. She looked up to see her attacker was a Sekirei with twin black ponytail in a kimono-like dress with semi detached sleeves that had two blades poking out from the ends. One blade was dripping with blood, her blood.

"I'm sorry for the trick, but my master wants the Water Sekirei and I can't have you interfering." Ichiya said condescendingly as she sauntered up to Toyotama, careful to stay out of the staff wielder's reach. She looked over at the other Sekirei and nodded to her.

"Finish her." Ichiya said to her. But before the Sekirei that was wielding the blades could move an inch, Ichiya was wrapped in a piece of cloth and thrown against the side of the roof entrance of the building she was standing on. The blade wielder's eyes widened in fear as she took a defensive stance to protect her self from any attacks from the same type of attack. But faster than she could react, Yume appeared behind her and slammed a glowing palm into her back, sending her flying several feet before she landed on the ground and remained there motionless. Yume turned to Toyotama, who was now on her hands and knees, clutching her wound with one hand. Yume knelt down and began to examine the wound.

"Uzume, withdraw from the battle, I need you to take Toyotama back to the Tower for treatment. She'll be fine if you can get her there quickly. But you need to leave now and you need to hurry." Yume said calmly but with a sense of urgency beneath her calm tone.

"What if Tetsuya need me though? I can't leave him while he's out there fighting for another Sekirei. If he hurts himself because I left I'd never forgive myself." Uzume replied

"Do you think **he **would ever forgive **you **if Toyotama died because you refused to follow my orders, he did leave me in charge after all." Yume responded. Uzume looked taken aback at Yume's cold brutal logic, as she stared at the Sekirei of Fater she noticed that her face was devoid of all emotion. Uzume opened her mouth to reply, but closed it when she looked at Toyotama who was still on her hands and knees. She gestured towards her friend, causing one of her veils to shoot towards her and wrap itself tightly around her wound to help staunch the bleeding. She ran over to Toyotama and picked her up bride-style in her arms.

"You better protect him. If he gets hurt, I'm coming for you." Uzume said coldly as she glared daggers at Yume.

"He is my Ashikabi, you needn't worry about his safety around me. I will protect him, even at the expense of my own life." Yume said as she turned to look over at Haihane, who had landed next to her silently a few seconds ago.

"Haihane, report," Yume said curtly as Uzume leaped away with Toyotama in her arms.

"Minato's Sekireis have joined the fight. Kaho is currently engaged with Himeko. Kaie and Sai are dealing with a very pissed Shiina and Homura. Apparently Higa did something to their Ashikabi and now they're out for blood." Haihane replied succinctly.

"Alright, now let's go find Tetsuya." Yume said as she leaped off in the direction Tetsuya had gone earlier, Haihane close behind her. At the same time Ichiya got unsteadily to her feet.

"Dammit, Master Higa is going to be so pissed when I get back." she said worriedly, she knew he wouldn't discard her though. She was one of his strongest Sekireis and she knew it. Whether he knew it or not, he needed her.

Yume and Haihane arrived to see Tetsuya, his shirt hanging in tatters revealing his impressive chest to the world. He was exchanging blows with Mutsu. Both of them had multiple cuts on their bodies. There were multiple rocks sticking out of the ground, the obvious results of Mutsu's earth powers. Tetsuya was trying his hardest, but Mutsu was wearing him down and exploiting holes in his defenses to land small blows on him. Yume quickly realized that Tetsuya was close to losing this battle. She raised her hand, now holding an orb of pink energy in her palm.

"Tetsuya, move!" Yume yelled down to him. He held up his nodachi to block a blow from Mutsu's sword, and glanced up to see Yume on top of the next building holding the orb of light in her hands, he gave her a swift nod and leaped as far from Mutsu as his legs would carry him. As soon as he was clear of his opponent's reach Yume pointed her palm at Mutsu, releasing the energy in her hand as a beam that she sent soaring toward Mutsu. Mutsu quickly grabbed his scabbard and slammed it into the ground, sending him flying into the air. But it wasn't enough to escape Yume's attack. The energy beam caught the frone side of him, destroying his clothes and damaging his body. He landed on the building across from Yume and Haihane and began to limp away. Yume leaped down to the street, landing next to her Ashikab, who was doubled over and breathing heavily.

"We need to get you to the Tower before anyone sends more Sekireis after you. Haihane, grab No. 09. We're taking her with us, we can't leave her here." She said as she helped him up from the street, he was gasping for breath, with sweat pouring down his face.

"Besides, she's fated to be with Tetsuya. Even if she says no to him, I'm sure he still wants to keep her safe. Right Tetsuya?" She said as she turned to look at her Ashikabi. He nodded wordlessly and sheathed his sword. Haihane walked over and picked up Tsukiumi in her arms, Yume taking her claws from her so she could carry Tsukiumi safely. After that Yume grabbed Tetsuya's hand and lept to the top of a nearby building and headed back to the tower with their charge in tow. Hopefully she would be more than just their charge though...

End Of Chapter.

Author's Note: Alright guys, I know I didn't cover Chiho's rescue in this chapter. That will be covered next chapter, along with Toyotama's fate as well as what happened to Yukari. I think I have hammered out a Sekirei flock list for my next OC, PM me if you wanna hear it. As always please review and vote on the poll on my profile if you haven't already. I'm also soon gonna post a poll to decide the last of my next OC's 6 Sekirei, it will include all of Tetsuya's Sekireis and all others that are excluded from the poll, minus Miya of course, she will still be married to a living Takehito next story. Also, PMing me with your vote and the reason behind it will go a long way to convincing me to use your vote in the next poll in my next story. Anyways enjoy the chapter my readers. This is 19th Angel, signing off.


	18. I'd Risk Anything For You

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alright guys and gals, sorry if I take a little longer, I'm currently working on my next story with a few of my fellow writers. I'm closing the poll for the first 5 Sekireis of my next OC; Orochi Nakashima next Friday, so be sure to vote before then. So far Yomi ans Matsu are confirmed, Saki and Kujika are both definite maybes. Though I know I have sent out a few lists of his Sekireis, I'd like to stress nothing is set in stone. I have decided not to put up a profile for Orochi on my profile as I don't want to give people the impression that he is a major project. I will most likely not write his story until the end of the first saga of A New Kind Of Ashikabi. If you'd like to help out with my upcoming story or any others, please don't hesitate to ask. On the same note, I'm also more than willing to help any authors on their own projects.

Chapter 18- I'd Risk Anything For You

Karasuba closed her phone as she hung up on Tetsuya. Why did she feel so strange after talking to him? More importantly, why did she tell him to be careful when she knew he could handle himself? She pondered these questions as she leaped between buildings with the other 4 Sekireis Tetsuya had sent to rescue Chiho. She put it out of her mind after a few minutes, as she said,

"Alright Hibiki and Hikari, you're with me. We're in charge of engaging the enemy's Sekireis. Akitsu and Benitsubasa, you're in charge of guarding Kazehana while she takes Chiho back to the Tower."

"Why am I stuck guarding the sick girl? I wanna fight too!" Benitsubasa said angrily as they landed on a building that sat about a half mile down the street from Hiyamakai hospital.

"That sick girl has a name and happens to be my Ashikabi, Ms. Washboard. And you would do well to be more respectful." a voice said from behind the group of Sekireis, all of them except Karasuba whirled around to see Kazehana walk out from behind a water tower that sat on the roof.

"You know what Ms. Melons? I'm not scared of you-" Benitsubasa began to say when Karasuba interrupted her, saying

"You should be scared of her Benitsubasa, she's probably a better fighter than even Mutsu. She could defeat you without a second thought." Karasuba said as she turned to face her former teammate.

"And as to why you're guarding Kazehana and Chiho, you're doing it cause Tetsuya told you to. If you have a problem with that, you can talk to him **after **we get back to the tower with Chiho. But for now you'll do it without complaining. Am I understood?" Karasuba said severely as she turned to glare at her subordinate. Benitsubasa swallowed hard and opened her mouth to reply, when she decided it would be best not to piss off the Black Sekirei. She closed her mouth to fume in silence.

"Alright Kazehana, what can you tell us of the situation?" Karasuba said as she turned to the wind goddess.

"Higa has stationed 3 Sekirei at the hospital. Numbers 101,79, and 85. If you can distract them for 10 minutes I can get in there and rescue Chiho and be halfway to the tower before Higa knows what happened." Kazehana reported

"Wait, Higa is here?" Hikari asked sounding concerned. Kazehana nodded.

"He arrived 15 minutes ago with his Sekireis, he must be worried about losing Chiho as leverage on me."

"Has he empowered any of his Sekireis?" Karasuba asked calmly. Kazehana nodded grimly.

"He's empowered them all. That's why I need your help. I only need you to hold them off long enough for me to get Chiho out of their reach." Kazehana replied.

"Alright, let's do this. Hikari and Hibiki, I'm gonna go in first, back me up as best you can. Akitsu and Benitsubasa, Kazehana's in charge of you guys." Karasuba said as she leaped off the roof towards the hospital.

Karasuba arrived at the hospital a few minutes later to see 5 Sekireis guarding the front entrance.

"What's Kazehana thinking, lying to us there's 5 Sekireis here. Are you sure this is a good idea, Karasuba?" Hikari asked angrily as she saw the 5 Sekireis on the ground below.

"Hibiki, you're more level-headed than your sister. Notice anything else weird about the situation?" Karasuba asked calmly as she surveyed the hospital below them. Hibiki was silent for a while as she looked over the hospital and parking lot. Then she realized what Karasuba was talking about.

"Higa's not here anymore. He must have called a few of Sekireis to defend the hospital when he left."

Hibiki said.

"Any idea what that means for us?" Karasuba asked. All was silent for a while until Hikari spoke up.

"It means we have no idea which ones have their incantation active. We can't determine their numbers from here so we just have to guess which ones have their incantations active" Hikari said as she realized how hard this battle was gonna be.

"I may have to kill some of them." Karasuba said sadly. Hikari turned and saw that the Black Sekirei looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Why does that bother you Karasuba? I've heard that you've killed quite a few Sekireis. What's a few more?" Hikari asked. She had no idea why Karasuba looked so upset. To be honest, even Karasuba couldn't understand why she felt so upset. She knew that if she killed a Sekirei that Tetsuya would be upset. But she didn't care what her Ashikabi thought of her... did she?

She hadn been lying when she told Yume that she cared about Tetsuya, hadn't she? Sure, she thought it was cool that he wanted to learn how to fight from her. And it **was **true that she thought he wasn't as completely useless as most humans were. There was also that moment when she'd gone to visit and he'd told her he'd missed her that she had felt...something that could be considered happiness. Was it possible that she loved Tetsuya? He was the only one who seemed care about her as a person, the only one who hadn't cared about what she'd done in the past before he met her. When everyone only saw her as a monster, he'd still taken the time to get to know her, even after she pushed him away. She put it out of her thoughts for now, she couldn't think of things like that on the battlefield.

"Well, standing around won't help us at all. Let's get going" Karasuba said as she leaped towards the hospital to engage the enemy Sekireis

Oriha

Words could not describe how happy she felt right now as she wandered the parking lot with her cloak wrapped around her to hide her gears with Katsuragi walking next to her. Higa had kissed her to allow her to use her Norito in case any enemy Sekireis showed up, but so far it seemed that all was quiet. Until she heard an explosion from behind her, she turned around to see two Sekireis in what appeared to be leather S&M outfits standing in front of the wreckage of what used to be a car with lightning bolts in their hands as they prepared to engage Kujou and Oshino. She recognized them as numbers 11 and 12 that Higa had been after before that horrible Guardian Ashikabi had attacked him.

"Wait if there here, that means he must have sent more. Katsuragi, what are we going to do if the Black Sekirei's here?" Oriha asked her fellow teammate.

"Oriha, it is our duty to fulfill Higa's wishes, even if it costs us our life. You know this as well as I do." Katsuragi said in her normal melancholic tone as she watched the two enemy Sekireis begin to shoot lightning at the Fist-Type Oshino and the wakizashi-wielding Kujou. It was not going well for Kujou, Oshino had activated her Norito and was slowly pushing number 11 back.

"I can't let this continue, if we don't do anything Kujou's gonna die. C'mon Katsuragi, let's go help." Oriha said as she threw open her cape revealing her dozen bladed discs, when she felt the cold, unmistakable feeling of a blade at her throat.

"Now, why would you wanna go and break the rules by interfering with a Sekirei battle?" said a cold voice from behind them Oriha swallowed ad turned to see Karasuba holding a blade to her throat. Katsuragi had noticed as well and leaped to attack the Black Sekirei.

In a blur of motion too fast for Oriha's eyes to follow, the Black Sekirei countered Katsuragi's attack. Katsuragi stood there for a few seconds, remaining deathly still. Until Katsuragi's jumpsuit was destroyed out of nowhere by some unseen force and Katsuragi fell to the ground as Oriha watched her Sekirei crest disappear. This was bad, she needed to do something or Higa wold be very angry at her.

"These flying gears represent my pledge. Cut away the enemies before my Ashikabi." she chanted as she felt her Norito activate. She aligned all of her discs into a single giant ring.

"If I terminate the Black Sekirei, Higa will finally love me. Now take this, Zangetsu no Mai (Moon Slasher)!" she cried as she sent the giant bladed ring flying toward Karasuba. The bladed ring tore a path of destruction as it flew towards Karasuba. Karasuba grinned,

"Foolish little bird, you'll need more than that to defeat me." she said casually as she raised her sword over her head. As the giant ring of discs neared her she brought her sword down across her body as hard as she could.

Oriha watched in horror as her discs all shattered into oblivion with a single strike from the Black Sekirei. How was this possible? She had used her Norito and her opponent had destroyed it like it was nothing. She fell to the ground as her opponent began to advance slowly toward her. She scurried back on her hands and feet as Karasuba began to walk toward her menacingly until she ran into a car behind her. Karasuba brought up her blade and held it to her throat.

"You are a pathetic excuse for a Sekirei. Tell me why I shouldn't end you right now?" Karasuba asked, to caught up in her blood lust to contemplate the consequences of her actions.

"Fine, kill me. I don't care anymore. If I return to Master without having defeated you, he'll throw me away anyways. I'd rather die than be separated from my Ashikabi. That's something a monster like you could never understand." Oriha said with tears streaming down her face as Karasuba raised her blade above her head as she prepared to end the crying Sekirei's life.

But something about the girl's words resonated in her. It had never occurred to her what she'd do if she lost Tetsuya. She knew she'd be terminated if he died, but if someone used the Jinki to save her and the others from their fate, what would she do in a world without her Ashikabi? Then Karasuba sheathed her sword quickly and started to walk away from Oriha.

"Wait, where are you going? I thought you were going to kill me!" Oriha called to her.

"No, I defeated number 86, I won my fight. Seeing as how you never challenged me, I have no business with you anymore. I have spared you once, I shall not do so a second time." Karasuba said as. she went to help the Twins in their fights. But before she could, the Hikari an Hibiki landed in front of her,

"C'mon, we just got the call from Kazehana, they're almost at the tower. It sounds like Chiho is in trouble." Hikari said. Karasuba nodded and took off towards Teitou tower with the twins close behind her.

_A few minutes earlier inside the hospital..._

Kazehana landed daintily on the windowsill of Chiho's hospital room. Se stepped inside to see Chiho sleeping peacefully on her hospital bad. Kazehana walked quietly over to her bedside, making absolutely no sound as she crossed the floor. She walked over to her Ashikabi's side and gazed down at her Ashikabi sleeping form. She gave a small smile, she looked so peaceful when she slept. You'd never guess that she was dying from the way she looked down. She leaned down and gave her shoulder a small shake. Chiho's eyes fluttered open to see the Wind Sekirei bent over her.

"Kazehana what are you doing here at this hour?" she asked, she began to ask more questions when Kazehana delicately placed a finger on her lips to silence her.

"Chiho, something went wrong with your transfer. It's still gonna happen, but we need to move you now. And we need to be quick and quiet about it. You ready to go?" Kazehana asked quietly.

Chiho looked puzzled and started to ask a question but stopped before she got the first word off, she simply nodded.

"Alright Kazehana let's go." she said quietly as she sat up and tried to lift her self out of the bed. Before she could though, Kazehana picked her bride-style in her arms to prevent her from overexerting herself.

Chiho was caught off guard by this, she blushed and looked away from Kazehana. She had always been a little confused about the nature of Kazehana's feelings for her and moments like this confused her even more. She loved Kazehana like a sister, but sometime it felt like more... But she put that aside as she saw Kazehana lean down. She leaned up and kissed her second Sekirei on the mouth, enjoying the sight of her beautiful pink-purple wings spreading out behind her.

"C'mon Chiho, let's go." Kazehana said as she gazed down at the most important person in her entire world. She walked over to the door an poked her head out to see a Sekirei dressed in a black dress at the end of the hallway. Kazehana quietly crossed the hall and headed over to the stairwell. She opened the door with a quiet creak when she heard someone from behind her shout,

"HEY! SHE'S GETTING AWAY. AFTER HER!" a woman shouted from behind her.

"Uh oh, hold on Chiho!" Kazehana exclaimed as she summoned her wind powers and flew her self up 4 flights of stairs, with the enemy Sekirei hot on her heels,. She arrived at the door to the roof a few seconds later and pushed the door open to see Akitsu waiting on the roof for her, along with a fuming Benitsubasa.

"About damn time." Benitsubasa spat angrily as Kazehana ran past her to the edge of the roof.

"C'mon we don't have much time there's a Sekirei on my tail." Kazehana said as the door to the roof burst open and a women in a dress with black hair tied up in a ponytail rushed out onto the roof.

She was holding a Kusari-gama with one scythe at either end, instead of the normal metal weight at the end. She ran toward Kazehana until she was stopped by ice encasing all of her body below her waist in an icy prison.

"Number 3, I'm sorry but I can't let you take your Ashikabi from here. My Master ordered me to ensure she remains here. So please, put her back in her room." the woman said. Kazehana clutched Chiho closer to her chest in response the Sekirei's words.

"No, Chiho's best chances are with MBI. " Kazehana said fiercely with fire in her eyes.

"Very well then." the woman said simply with a sigh. Then without warning she leaped out of her icy prison with a huge CRACK and aimed herself at Kazehana as she threw one of her kusari-gama at the wind Sekirei. Kazehana jumped out of the way and Benitsubasa leaped up and aimed a kick at the enemy Sekirei. Benitsubasa's kick missed the enemy who landed back on the roof, as soon as she touched down she threw one end of her weapon up at the Red Sekirei. Benitsubasa gracefully flipped out of the way, in response to this the enemy yanked on the connecting chain of her weapon. This caused the scythe to flip in midair and start to swing back along it's original path. Benitsubasa prepared to dodge but was stunned when it sailed harmlessly past her... and back towards Kazehana. Akitsu gestured and sent several shards of ice flying towards the weapon. The woman quickly manipulated the chain, causing the weapon to stay on its course toward Kazehana. Benitsubasa leaped in a futile attempt to intercept the weapon. She jumped out of the way to avoid it, but she wasn't quick enough...

There was a flash of metal and the sound of metal rending flesh as the scythe made contact. A high-pitched cry of pain rent the night air as the scythe scored a cut that started at her left oblique and traveled down to the outside of her left thigh.

"Chiho!" Kazehana screamed as she felt Chiho's pain through their bond. She looked down at her Ashikabi, who was bleeding in her arms. She handed her off to Benitsubasa, who had landed next to her.

"You're a Fist-Type, you're much faster than me. You get her to the Tower as fast as you can or I will kill you." Kazehana said as she handed her Ashikabi to the pink-haired fighter. Benitsubasa nodded and took off toward the Tower as fast as her legs would carry her...

Wind swirled around Kazehana as she summoned it to her.

"You will pay for that. WITH YOUR LIFE! She screamed as she sent a hurricane force wind toward the enemy Sekirei, smashing her against the wall like a doll.

Yukari

She ran down the street with Shiina close on her heels.

"What exactly did Homura say exactly?" Shiina asked, too busy trying to keep up to enjoy the feel of her hand in his.

"He just said that a friend of his was in trouble and to meet him at the address he gave us." she said as she ran down the dark street. Shiina opened his mouth to speak when someone plowed into him from the side slamming him to the wall and pinning him by the throat.

"Shiina!" Yukari screamed as she turned to see a woman in a bikini top holding a tonfa to Shiina's throat.

"No harm will come to him, if you come with me that is." She heard a voice from behind her say. She turned to see a handsome bishounen-esque man in an elaborate, pure white suit with a white shirt underneath and a black tie.

"Hello Ms. Sahashi, I'm Higa Izumi, (My bad with the Higa Pharmaceuticals I'll change it later. :/ ) and I wish to be your friend." he said calmly as he held out a hand toward her.

"Shiina, I'm gonna go with him. Go find Homura and help him." Yukari said as she took the man's hand and followed him to his car, Shiina couldn't say anything due to the tonfa on his windpipe. He could only watch as his Ashikabi entered the man's car. As soon as they were out of sight the Sekirei removed her tonfa from his throat and leaped away, leaving him alone on the dark street...

Emd Of Chapter

Author's Note: Alright, I didn't get to Toyotama or anything else I wanted to, but I still got alot out. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, please read, review and vote if able. 19th Angel, signing off.


	19. One Big Happy Family

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alrighty, not too many chapters left before the end of the first half of Tetsuya's story. Be warned, this chapter contains a whole, full-fledged Lemon. Remember to cast your vote on Orochi's possible Sekireis before the 26th when it closes.

Chapter 19-One Big Happy Family

It was 21:00 when Yume carried Tetsuya back to the tower, landing on the balcony of their floor in the tower before carrying her Ashikabi inside and setting him on one of the couches that sat in the common area.

"Are you okay Tetsuya? She asked as she leaned in close to him to examine his wounds. They were mostly shallow, it looked like Tetsuya had prevented Mutsu from scoring any serious injuries to him, Karasuba had done a fine job training him. But although his wounds were shallow, they would still need cleaning to prevent infection.

"I'm fine. How is Tsukiumi?" He asked as he stood up shakily. Yume wrapped her arms around him to keep him steady.

"She's fine, but you need to be careful. I don't want you to hurt yourself." she said.

"Actually, we have a problem." Haihane said as she entered the room,

"What's up?" Tetsuya asked curiously

"She's got a few cuts and bruises but she's not waking up. I think Mutsu really did a number on her. What should we do?" Haihane asked. Tetsuya turned to look at the beautiful woman that Haihane had laid on the couch next to the one he had sat on. He went over and picked her up in his arms.

"I'm gonna go take her to my room, she can stay there while we work out what to do with her. Yume, call Takami and have her come up here to check on her." he said calmly.

"Takami is a little busy right now..." he heard a voice say from behind him. He turned with Tsukiumi still in his arms to see a worried looking Uzume.

"Uzume, what do you mean? What's Takami doing that's too important to help a Sekirei who needs her?" he asked.

"Well that's the thing..." Uzume began then that's when Tetsuya noticed what was odd about this situation...

"Uzume, where's Toyotama?" Tetsuya asked slowly. But it was Yume who responded, saying

"Toyotama was injured by an enemy Sekirei during the battle. I instructed Uzume to bring her back to the tower for treatment as soon as she was injured."

"She's on her way to surgery right now..." Uzume said quietly.

Tetsuya stood there for a few seconds, trying to process what he had just heard when he finally said.

"Yume, take Tsukiumi to my room and have Minaka send someone to check on her. I'm gonna go check on Toyotama." he said as he walked over to Yume and handed Tsukiumi carefully to her. Yume took her from Tetsuya and made her way over to his room

"How are you gonna get there in time?" Haihane asked, puzzled.

"You leave that to me." Tetsuya said as he turned around and found what he was looking for, there was stairwell entrance that sat against the far wall. At that very moment, the elevator dinged open, revealing Minato and his multitude of Sekirei.

"Hey Tetsuya, do you mind if we crash here for tonight? A few of my Sekirei were injured and I'd like to stay here while they get treated." Minato said as the door opened.

"Sure thing Minato, I'd love to stay but I'm needed elsewhere. Hey Uzume, what floor is Toyotama on?" He said as he opened the door to the stair well and leaned over the railing to look down the shaft in the middle of the stairwell.

"She's on the 69th, why do you ask?" she said with a puzzled look on her face. She didn't see why Tetsuya was asking that right now.

"I can do that." Tetsuya said to himself as he leaned forwards and fell headfirst down the stairwell.

"OH MY GODS!" Uzume squealed in terror as she ran forward and looked over to see her Ashikabi falling down the the stairwell. When suddenly he extended his arms and grab the stairs of the level above his destination and pivot himself and catapult himself towards the door that led to the 69th floor. He hit the door feet first, knocking the door off it's hinges with him still on it. The door hit the floor hard an skidded 3 and a half meters along the floor spewing sparks on either side of it. Tetsuya looked up to see two thoroughly shocked doctors staring at him dumbfounded.

"Where's Toyotama?" he asked the doctors urgently.

"Who?" one of them , a tall man of approximately 60 with gray hair asked, sounding bewildered

"Sekirei number 16; Toyotama. Long green hair, well endowed, uses a staff. She was injured during a battle and is scheduled for surgery soon, where is she?" he asked quickly. One of the researchers, still looking dumbfounded pointed silently with one hand down the hall towards a door labeled ICU.

"Thanks a million, see you later." Tetsuya said as he took off down the hall at a sprint. Leaving the two doctors standing there.

"The fuck just happened?" the shorter of the pair asked his companion.

"I don't know. But one thing's for sure, no more smoking pot at work." his companion answered. His coworker nodded his assent, and continued on their way.

Tetsuya raced down the hallways until he saw a group of doctors and surgeons wheeling a gurney towards a set of double doors with a familiar green-haired Sekirei lying on it. Tetsuya ran towards them as fast as he could.

"Wait! Don't go in there yet, I need to say something Toyotama!" he yelled down the hallway. One of the physicians turned to look at him. It was a young man of about thirty with short black hair and glasses.

"We don't have time for this, she needs surgery soon. I'm sure whatever you have to say can wait until she's out of surgery." the doctor said impatiently.

"Not if you mess up and kill, her it can't. Now beat it!" Tetsuya said angrily, clearly in no mood for games.

"Alrighty... You've got 1 minute." The doctor said as he motioned for the nurses and other doctor to follow him.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tetsuya asked as he looked down at Toyotama who was dressed in a hospital gown. She shot him a pained grin from the gurney.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Why did you come though? I thought for sure you'd be busy winging Tsukiumi." she said wearily.

"No, she's still out cold. Besides, even if she was up. You take priority." he said as he bent down and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

Toyotama blushed as he pulled away, she didn't like Tetsuya seeing her injured. She always did her best to make sure she always looked powerful, self-assured, and invulnerable in front of Tetsuya. She wanted him to believe she was invincible and that she was gonna win the game for him, she had never let him see her wounded or vulnerable. What if he thought she was too fragile to be on the front lines after this? All these thoughts and more flashed across her face in an instant. Tetsuya felt her doubt and fear in the back of his mind and realized exactly what he needed to do.

"Hey I know what your thinking. I don't know how Higa's Sekirei managed to injure you, but I'm sure that had it been a fair fight you would've wiped the floor with her. So don't worry I'm not gonna treat you like you're made of glass after this. But this incident has made me realize something. I haven't said something to you since the day we met, and I should have said it a long time ago." He said as he placed on hand on her cheek and stroked her face with the thumb of one hand. Toyotama melted at his touch, leaning in to his hand and sighing contentedly.

"What is it?" she whispered as she enjoyed his touch. He leaned down and whispered in her ear,

"I love you Toyotama, and I hope we can spend our lives together." as he finished speaking he pulled back to look at her to see her smiling happily. He knew he'd said he loved her before but he'd always said it when referring to her as part of the group he'd never said it to her for her benefit alone. She smiled back up at him as he said this.

"I love you too Tetsuya, and I know you're worried about me. Don't get me wrong, it's always nice to see that you care. But I want you to know that I'm gonna be fine, and I'm more committed than ever to winning the game for you. And when I get out of surgery..." she said as she leaned up and kissed him on the lips, as their lips parted she pulled him down so her lips were next to his ear and whispered seductively in his ear.

"I'm gonna show you just how committed I am." Tetsuya was smiling as he pulled away from her. For once he didn't mind her advances toward him, he loved her and was glad she loved him as well. He opened his mouth to say something when the doors opened and the doctors reappeared and moved to take her away. Tetsuya watched in silence as they took her into the O.R., hoping that she would be okay. He turned and headed back to waiting room, only to see Kazehana sitting in the waiting room looking miserable.

"Hey Kazehana, why are you here?" he asked curiously. He would've thought the Wind Sekirei would be with Chiho right now, enjoying the chance to celebrate their upcoming improved treatment and her possible cure of her disease. Kazehana was silent as she looked up slowly from her seat, Tetsuya noticed as she did that her eyes were red and looked like she had been crying. Tetsuya walked over and took a seat next to her against the wall.

"Is everything alright, Kazehana?" Tetsuya asked as he sat down next to her. Kazehana wordlessly shook her head, not making eye contact with him. She sat there silently, shaking with silent tears. Until finally, she said

"Chiho was injured by one of Higa's Sekireis. Some bitch with a kusari-gama that was aiming for me, but she got Chiho instead. Now Chiho's in surgery, and it's all my fault." Kazehana said as tears dripped down her face onto the part of her dress covering her thighs. As soon as she finished talking, Tetsuya wrapped her in a hug.

"Don't say that. Don't ever say that. I'm sure Chiho would never want you to feel bad for trying to help her. Now we're both gonna wait here until Chiho gets out of surgery. Okay?" he said as he felt Kazehana return the hug.

"Thank you, that means so much to me." she said quietly as he held her close. Tetsuya opened his mouth to speak when he felt a hand on his shoulder,

"That's a lovely sentiment Tetsuya, but you still need to get medical attention for yourself. We can't have you getting an infection now, can we?" said a voice from behind him. Tetsuya let go of Kazehana to turn and face the source of the voice.

"Mom! Oh Buddha, it's so good to see you! What are you doing here?" Tetsuya said as he stood and turned to face his mother. She was wearing her usual outfit, complete with the ribbon in her hair.

"Wait, what's going on here? Why are you here Miya? And why is the Ashikabi of the Disciplinary Squad calling you mom?" Kazehana asked as she recognized her old commander from the Disciplinary Squad. Miya turned to face her old friend.

"Hello Kazehana, it's good to see you again, I'm glad you found an Ashikabi. But to answer your question; I'm here to visit my son, Tetsuya. You remember him, right? You did attack him after all." Miya said sweetly as her hannya mask appeared behind her. At the sight of her mask, Kazehana began to sweat noticeably and tremble.

"Mom. It's okay, don't blame her. Higa was blackmailing her Ashikabi to make her work for him, but she doesn't work for him anymore. We just had her moved to the Tower for treatment. It sounds like she's in surgery now." Tetsuya said in Kazehana's defense.

"But enough about that. Why are you here? It is so good to see you again." Tetsuya said excitedly as he hugged his mother tightly.

"Tetsuya, Uzume called and told me you'd been injured and I came to make sure you were okay." she said as she gently returned his hug.

"Is that all? I mean I don't mean to sound ungrateful but you are literally the last person I expected to see int this building. I mean I literally would be less surprised if the Second Coming happened here. Oh wow, sorry about that." he said as he noticed he had just left numerous blood stains on his mother's white hakama.

"It's quite alright Tetsuya. But I was serious when I said you should get medical attention. Kazehana, we will talk later." Miya said as she examined her son, his shirt was full of holes revealing multiple long and short scratches on his torso and extremities. Most of them had scabbed over, but there were a few that looked liked they'd need medical attention.

"Okay, but can you come with me? I have so much I wanna tell you." he said excitedly.

"I'm sorry, but I have some other things I need to attend to before that. But I promise we will talk later." Miya replied.

"Alright, that's okay. See you later." he said as he pulled out his phone and began to call Takami. He told her he was injured and needed to be patched up, she directed to on of the numerous hospital rooms on that level of the Tower. He headed to the room number she'd indicated and headed inside to wait. Takami arrived a few minutes later and informed him that all his Sekireis were fine. None had been seriously injured in the skirmish against the East and South's forces. The worst injury had been to Haihane, who had forgotten she was wearing her claws when she went to scratch her back. She told him that Tsukiumi was fine, she had just used up all of her power and needed to rest for a while. After that she bandaged Tetsuya up and gave him a total of 16 stitches.

"Alrighty, just avoid exerting yourself too much for about 3 days and you should be fine." she said as she removed her latex gloves after she finished the last stitch.

"Three days, are you sure that's long enough?" he asked as he turned to face her.

"Yeah, it should be plenty of time. Due to your Sekirei DNA you should heal fairly quickly." she said as she stood up and turned to leave.

"Wait Takami, before you go you should know Minato's here. Maybe you should talk to him. I mean, the game's about to have a big change, he needs to be ready for it. Also, I'm sure he'd be glad to know you care about his safety." Tetsuya said as he turned to face her as she was walking away. Takami stopped in her tracks, halfway through the doorway into the hallway.

"I'll... think about it. I've still got a lot of work to do today." she said quietly as she left. Tetsuya got up and headed out the door in to the hallway and started to head down the opposite direction Takami had toward the elevator. He was about halfway down the hallway when he heard someone from inside one of the room say

"Ouchie! Hey watch where you're sticking that needle!" he heard a familiar voice cry from inside the room. Tetsuya paused to listen for any other dialogue, when he heard another familiar voice chime in.

"Saki, you've got to remain still. Otherwise you'll never get that cut stitched up."

"C'mon number 55, you're not scared are you?" he heard another voice say.

"SHUT UP YAHAN! NO ONE ASKED YOU!" He heard Saki shriek from inside. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him and he poked his head inside to see what was going on.

When he poked his head inside the room he saw Saki sitting on a hospital bed with a nasty looking cut on her side just below her right breast, with an annoyed looking physician sitting next to the bed. On the other side stood none other than his uncle; Seo Kaoru. The same dark skinned Sekirei that had been with her in the battle earlier was sitting on a chair on the other side of the room with a grin on her face.

"Everything alright Saki?" he asked, ignoring Seo's appearance in the Tower for now.

I'm fine it's just this dunce doesn't know how to stitch up a cut." she said as she shot a nasty look at the doctor sitting next to her.

"That's bull shit. Saki's just too scared of the needle to sit still for her stitches." Yahan said from her seat against the wall.

"Nuh uh! I'm not scared." Saki said defensively.

"Saki are you sure you're not scared? Because it looks an awful lot like you're scared of the needle." Seo said soothingly to her. Saki blushed and looked down at the floor and mumbled something Tetsuya couldn't hear to his uncle.

"Ah, I see. Well you've just gotta be brave okay?" Seo asked, when an idea occurred to Tetsuya.

"Would you feel better if your Ashikabi was the one sewing you up?" Tetsuya asked, he knew Seo knew how to stitch people up. He had done it a few times after Tetsuya had gotten in an accident on his motorcycle. Saki nodded, not saying anything.

"Alright I'll do it." Seo said as he took the needle form the doctor.

"Hey, by the way Uncle Seo, feel free to stop by the 79th floor when you guys are done here. Miya's here and I'd love to catch up with both of you. Now I'd love to stay and chat but I've things I have to do. Not the least of which is put a shirt on." Tetsuya said as he gestured to his shirtless torso. Seo nodded

"Will do buddy, I'll see you soon." Seo said as Tetsuya turned to exit the room.

Tetsuya nodded back at him as he exited the room and headed back to the elevator and rode the elevator back to his floor, hoping that it wouldn't be too busy when he arrived. The door dinged open and Tetsuya was greeted by the sight of an absolutely packed dining room. Tetsuya stepped off the elevator and surreptitiously tried to sneak into his room to retrieve a shirt and a new set of pants. To no avail it turned out. Because as soon as he stepped into view of the massive crowd of Sekireis. Uzume, Matsu, and Hikari, began to raucously hoot at him.

"Whoo! There's my sexy Ashikabi!" he heard Uzume call over to him.

"Take it off! We wanna see more!" a drunk Matsu hooted at him.

"What she said. Show us more!" he heard Hikari yell over to him.

Tetsuya ignored their calls and headed over to his room, he poked his head inside to see Tsukiumi sleeping peacefully on his bed. He averted his eyes when he saw that she was naked, apparently the doctor had removed her dress to examine her injuries. He quietly entered the room and grabbed a shirt and blue jeans from his dresser. He managed to grab them and get changed without waking his sleeping guest.

After that, he went back out and joined his and Minato's Sekireis along with his mother in the dining room to have dinner. They hadn't had a chance to eat before leaving to rescue Tsukiumi, it also gave them all a chance to catch up. Tetsuya was going to allow Minato to spend the night while his Sekirei recovered. Tetsuya let him use the few spare living quarters that were open on the floor. But after a quick head count it was discovered that even if they doubled up they wouldn't have enough room. So it was decided that Matsu would bunk with Uzume, while Kusano would again stay with Miya, Karasuba even volunteered to let Musubi bunk with her. While to his even greater surprise Yume would let Kaho stay with her. After Seo and his Sekireis arrived Tetsuya went outside to the balcony for some air.

He walked out onto the balcony, enjoying the feel of the crisp night air on his skin as the wind whipped his hair around behind him. He sighed, he knew exactly what was gonna happen during the next Stage. After the Third Stage there could be no more alliances, no more mercy to Minato or Seo. He was gonna win this game, and no one in the world was gonna stop him. He had sacrificed too much, devoted too much of himself to his Sekireis to do anything but his best to win for them. And he would crush anyone who stood in his way, even his uncle.

He didn't wanna have to fight Seo or Minato. Seo was his uncle and he still cared deeply for him. Minato was another story, when Tetsuya really thought about it Minato wasn't his friend. Matsu was his friend but Minato was just an acquaintance, they had never been close, even in cram school. Minato was nice but he was soft and malleable. He would fold when the pressure came down on him, and Tetsuya couldn't let his weakness hurt him or his Sekireis. Chiho was another matter altogether...

Tetsuya was distracted from his thoughts by two arms circling around his torso from behind him, along with the feeling of someone pressing their breasts against his back.

"Hey what are you doing all alone out here?" he heard Uzume ask from behind him. Tetsuya turned around to face his first Sekirei.

"Just getting some air. I don't like crowds. So why are you out here?" He said as he looked down into her beautiful brown eyes and reached around her back to pull her closer to him. Tetsuya was always amazed how he still felt like such a normal kid when he kissed Uzume or held her in his arms. She made him feel like he was still just a second year ronin, concerned with normal problems for people his age.

"You looked like something was bothering you, so I came to check it out. If something is bothering you, I wanna help." she said as she reached up and placed her hands on his chest.

"Everything is fine, I was just thinking about what's gonna happen in the next Stage. But it's cool now, so how is everyone?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Everyone seems fine, Matsu says she misses hanging out with you. She says she's a little jealous of us, not having to worry about Miya sneaking up on us all the time." she said as she began to rub his chest.

"That's true, it's nice that I can do this without having to worry about my mom." he said with a grin. Uzume gave him a puzzled look as she said

"Do wha-" Uzume began to ask, but the rest of her question was lost as Tetsuya leaned down and kissed her passionately on the lips. Uzume stood on tiptoe as she leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck as she returned his kiss, while at the same time he moved on hand down and started to rub her thigh with one hand while with the other he rubbed circles on her back. They stood there for a while as they kissed each other. As they kissed, the entire world seemed to fall away. Until finally they weren't participants in Minaka's sick game, fighting for victory every day. They weren't even Sekirei and Ashikabi. They were just Tetsuya and Uzume, two kids still head-over-heels in love with each other and trying their best to make their relationship work in this crazy world. Uzume broke their kiss after awhile,

"Let's move this to the bedroom." she whispered in his ear. Tetsuya nodded and followed her inside as she led him by the hand to her room. As soon as he was inside she shut the door behind them, locking it as she did. Tetsuya pulled her back into his arms and kissed her passionately once again. He'd missed spending time with her these past few days. After a few seconds, she once again broke their kiss.

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna change into something more comfortable." she said as she hurried over to her closet and grabbed something from inside and rushed into her bathroom to change.

As soon as she was inside, Tetsuya went to work removing his shirt and pants, tossing them into a pile in the corner of the room, leaving only his boxers on. He headed over to Uzume's bed and laid down on it and patiently waited for her return. He didn't have to wait long, a few minutes later she emerged from the bathroom dressed in a black leather bra that struggled to contain her massive breasts, along with a pair of matching pair of black leather panties.

"You like?" she asked seductively as she knelt on the bed and started to crawl over to him.

"Very much so." Tetsuya answered as she finished crawling over to him. She was now standing with one leg and one arm on either side of him. She lowered her hips onto his lap and started to lightly trace circles over his chest as she leaned down and kissed his neck. While she continued her ministrations, Tetsuya reached up and undid the clasp on her bra and gave her breast a gentle, yet firm squeeze with one hand. While with his other hand he reached down her underwear and started to rub circles around her engorged nub.

"Oh Tetsuya! That feels so good, where did you learn that?" she moaned.

"There's more where that came from" Tetsuya purred in her ear. He continued from there as he went on to make slow, unhurried love to his first Sekirei. He spent the night focusing more on her pleasure than his own. He found that he enjoyed making her feel good more than he enjoyed her focusing on his pleasure.

The next morning Tetsuya woke before Uzume, who was thoroughly drained from their lovemaking last night. So he headed into her bathroom and showered. After that he headed his room to get a suit to dress for the day. He arrived in his room and was in the process of retrieving a suit from his closet when he heard a voice form behind him say

"Halt! Identify thyself and explain your purpose here!" Tetsuya turned to see Tsukiumi sitting upright in his bed, her modesty protected by his sheets, pointing accusingly at him. He slowly turned to face her and said

"Oh. Hey... You're up."

End Of Chapter

Author's Note: Alrighty, here it is. As always please review and vote if possible. When the next poll goes up I will be providing a profile for Orochi. 19th Angel, signing off.

**SPOILER ALERT!**

Both Tetsuya and Minato still have yet to acquire all of their future Sekireis Tetsuya still has 2 left to wing, while Minato has 3. You'll have to read to find out who they are and how they are unwinged then rewinged. Also, be warned someone is gonna die, I won't say who, but it's gonna be a big factor in the next half of the story: Rise Of The Warrior

**SPOIULERS OVER!**


	20. Tsukiumi's Choice

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of its characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alrighty guys first off, I apologize for any delay with this chapter. My keyboard on my laptop is broken and I lack any sort of desktop computer to use so I have to use a wireless keyboard and it makes things a pain and slows me down considerably. Secondly my readers, you have my deepest apologies for last chapter's lemon. During a routine reread of my work the other day, I realized that I rushed that part of the chapter to get it out and I apologize for that. I had originally intended for it to be a very emotional scene and it read more like a random hookup and for that you have my sincerest apology. That is not the type of writer I wanna be. So along with this new chapter please enjoy a rewrite of the last part of chapter 19 particularly the scene between Uzume and Tetsuya. Actually, only that section.

Chapter 20- Tsukiumi's Choice

"I said identify thyself!" Tsukiumi said angrily as she pointed accusingly at Tetsuya. Tetsuya knew he needed to act quickly or she'd attack him.

"I'm Tetsuya Asama. I rescued you from Mutsu yesterday." he said slowly, not wanting to provoke her.

"Art thou a Sekirei then? I must say I hath never heard of a Sekirei with a surname." she said as she raised an eyebrow at him. Tetsuya noted her odd way of speaking, but decided not to mention it to avoid offending her. Tetsuya slowly walked over to her bedside and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. All the while very keenly aware of the burning sensation at the base of his neck.

"That's because I'm not a Sekirei." he said as he lowered himself down beside her.

"Then thou must taketh me for a fool, as it is common knowledge that no human can stand against an unwinged Sekirei. Much less a fully winged single number. Now tell me the truth before I decide to end thou's wretched life" she said as a globe of water materialized in her open hand. Tetsuya chuckled

"I think you will find that well outside your capabilities Tsukiumi. But your plenty welcome to try." he said as he took her unoccupied hand in his own and gently kissed the back of it. As soon as his lips touched her hand she angrily yanked her hand out of his own.

"How dare thy filthy monkey befoul my being with thy touch!? Water celebration!" She shouted at him as she once again pointed at him. All was quiet for a few seconds until,

"What foul trickery is this?Why does my power desert me? Explain thyself!" she said angrily.

"Not until you apologize for calling me a monkey. I'm no mere human Tsukiumi, my mother is Sekirei No. 01. The strongest Sekirei to ever walk this Earth. That makes me your equal in battle at least, most likely your superior." He said calmly. He knew Tsukiumi's power would be neutralized until he left.

"Never! I will not apologize to one who simply seeks to enslave and violate my body." she said angrily as she bared her teeth at him.

"Tsukiumi what are you talking about? I would never seek to enslave a Sekirei, much less violate one. I believe that Sekireis are wonderful beings, and to enslave one is one of the worst things a person can do. I believe that, being chosen as an Ashikabi by a Sekirei is the greatest honor that can be bestowed on a person. Tsukiumi, I saw you in a dream of mine and that hasn't happened to me since I saw my second Sekirei, Akitsu; in a dream of mine. The only way I can explain the reasoning behind that dream is that I believe you and I are fated to be together. But if you don't want me as an Ashikabi I certainly won't force you." he said as he stood. Tsukiumi was silent as he headed over to the closet and picked out the suit he was gonna wear that day. They were both silent until as he reached for the door handle. As he reached to open the door he heard

"Thou wouldst really allow me to leave here of my own free will?" she asked from his bed. Tetsuya turned to face her.

"Of course I would. I hope you'll stay though, I'd be honored to be your Ashikabi if you'd have me. But if not, oh well. But you should know that as the last unwinged Sekirei on the planet there's nowhere you can go where the other Ashikabi won't search for you. The safest place for you right now is here in the tower or if you insist on leaving, I'd suggest staying at the Maison Izumo in the northern part of the city. You'll be safe there." he said.

"For what reason would thou help me? Thou would gain nothing from my departure." she said suspiciously.

"I'm not motivated by greed here, I just wanna help you. I'd hardly be the Guardian Ashikabi if I didn't help a Sekirei in need. Though before you leave, you might wanna get dressed." he said with a grin as he turned and exited the room as Tsukiumi moved to cover herself.

Tsukiumi

She walked as the man who had rescued her the previous night left to let her dress in peace. As he disappeared from her view, she felt the fire in her chest begin to die down. She had no idea why, but when she was close to him she felt strange inside. Her body felt hot all over and her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest. Not to mention how she felt when he had kissed her hand, her hand still felt hot where he had kissed her.

Was this what it felt like to react to someone? If she disregarded her previous impressions about Ashikabis, the man seemed like the perfect gentleman. But that could all be an act to lure her into let him wing her. Though that didn't seem likely or else he could have simply winged her while she was asleep. He mentioned being the Guardian Ashikabi, was it possible that he was the man who Homura had told her about? If what her rival had said was true, than he was telling the truth about just wanting to help her.

From some reason, as she thought about this she remembered an odd dream she had had a few days ago. A man had appeared out of nowhere to rescue her from a sword wielding attacker, she hadn't been able to see his face. But shortly after fighting off her attacker he had taken her in his arms and given her a passionate kiss on the lips. What had happened next still made loins tingle when she thought about it.

Tetsuya

He walked back to Uzume's room so Tsukiumi could change in private. He arrived back in Uzume's room to see Matsu sitting on the bed, typing away on a tablet computer. As he entered Matsu looked up from her computer at him with a grin

"Hey sexy boy, what were you and Uzume doing last night that was so important that I had to sleep on your couch?" she asked mischievously.

"Oh crap Matsu! I'm so sorry, I forgot you were supposed to bunk with Uzume last night. Did you sleep well at least?" he asked uncomfortably with a grin.

"Oh I slept fine. But more importantly, how did **you **sleep?" she asked with a devilish grin.

"I slept naked, next to Uzume if you must know." he said with a wink.

"Oooooooooh! Tell me more!" Matsu squealed in delight at this delicious gossip.

"Hey what are you two talking about?" Uzume asked as she stepped out of the bathroom dressed only in a towel.

"Oh I was just telling Matsu about last night. But come to think of it, you could probably tell it better than me. Now I'm gonna go change, you girls have fun." he said as he yanked off his shirt as he headed to the bathroom to change.

"Wait, one thing before you go!" Uzume said as she ran up behind him. Tetsuya turned around to face his first Sekirei as she stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his lips. As she broke the kiss, she leaned up and whispered in his ear

"Last night was amazing."

"I know, I was there." he said as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, rubbing her back with one hand. He loved her so much. Without her he would never have met any of his other Sekireis, his mother, or any of his friends from the Inn. His thoughts were interrupted by Matsu sighing from the bed.

"Is everything alright Matsu?" he asked as he turned to face his friend.

"Yea, it's just... it'd be great if Minato held me like that every once in a while." Matsu said with a sigh.

"You go change, I got this." Uzume said as she patted Tetsuya on the back with one hand. Tetsuya nodded and turned to head to the restroom to change when he heard Uzume say

"Hey Matsu, check this out." She said as she crouched down and pulled down Tetsuya's pants and underwear in one smooth motion. Matsu gasped in surprise and raised a hand to her mouth as she caught a view f Tetsuya's member. In response, Tetsuya turned around and snatched Uzume's towel off her as he rushed into the bathroom.

"Fine take it. I used to walk around the Inn naked anyways." he heard Uzume call as he closed the door behind him. He cursed inwardly as he realized he hadn't thought his plan through. After he finished dressing he exited the bathroom in a black suit with a black shirt and red tie. He exited the bathroom fully dressed to see Uzume hugging Matsu before getting up to head to breakfast. As Matsu got up and started to head to the common area, Tetsuya reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Matsu is everything alright with you and Minato? I mean I know he dotes on Musubi a little more than he does the rest of you. But he does still spend time with you?" he asked softly. His friend was obviously upset about something as she turned to face him.

"Well yeah, he tries to. But Kusano and Ikki always wanna spend time with him too. And if he isn't studying or with them, he's spending time with Namiji and Nanaha. He almost never spends any time with me. And whenever we talk I stupidly bring up experiments and that just freaks him out. I'm not trying to do it sometimes but I can't help it. It's just whenever he talks to me I latch on to any opportunity to spend more time with him. Tetsuya, I don't know what to do." she cried as she threw her arms around him and began to cry into his shoulder. Tetsuya returned her hug as he said

"Well Matsu talk to him about this. If you don't mean to bring it up, let him know. And if you need an excuse to spend time with him volunteer to help him study. You are a Brain-Type after all, and you've got to be the smartest Sekirei he has. And if you're not the smartest, you've gotta at least have Musubi beaten by a mile." he said. He heard Matsu give a small chuckle at his comment. Tetsuya held his friend in his arms for a few more minutes until she regained control of herself.

"Thanks Tetsuya, I'll give that a try." she said as she released him and readjusted her glasses.

"Now come on, let's go have breakfast." she said as she moved to scurry off to the common area. As she hurried out the door Tetsuya could swear she was hiding something.

Matsu

What Tetsuya didn't know was that the thing she had really been worrying about was that, recently she had been doubting her choice of Minato as her Ashikabi. She didn't wanna say anything in front of him but recently she still felt the typical bond with her Ashikabi but if she was completely honest with herself, Tetsuya was on her mind more often than Minato. Now she had no idea what she was gonna do about that situation. She shouldn't have come here, now she was more confused than ever...

Tetsuya

He followed Matsu out the door to see his mother standing in the kitchen wearing an apron, along with Hibiki, Akitsu, and Nanaha. The table was packed with Sekireis, both his and Minato's. They were all socializing without a care in the world, heedless of the fact that they would have to fight each other to the death in a few weeks. He scanned the room, looking for one particular blonde-haired single number. But saw that Tsukiumi was nowhere to be seen. He walked over to his room and moved to open the door when he heard Tsukiumi say from inside

"Confounded thing! How is it I can leap over 100 feet in a single bound, yet I cannot zip my own clothing unaided?" she asked angrily. Tetsuya opened the door to see Tsukiumi flailing about in a futile attempt to reach the zipper on her dress. Tetsuya silently crossed the room and placed one hand on her shoulder and zipped up the back of her dress. Tsukiumi was caught off guard by his sudden assistance. Tetsuya noted that as she turned to face him her face was slightly flushed and his neck was burning once again.

"I thanketh thee. Without your assistance I would have been waylaid for several minutes as I attempted to zip myself." She said gratefully. Now that he was closer to her, he noticed that she had the bluest eyes he'd ever seen.

"It was my pleasure. So have you decided what you're gonna do yet?" he asked as he gazed into her eyes, they seemed to be as deep as the ocean.

"I have. But first, tell me why thou is gazing at me in such a manner." she said as she noticed the strange look on his face.

"I'm sorry, it's just... you have very beautiful eyes." he said as he regained control of himself. Tsukiumi blushed a deep crimson and glanced away from him.

"Thank you, though I fail to see how that is relevant. But I must say thou art not unpleasant to gaze upon either." she said as she looked back up at him. After a long while he asked her,

"So what have you decided on?". Tsukiumi appeared to remember where she was as she said

"I, Sekirei No. 09, Tsukiumi have decided to accept, your proposal of marriage." she said as she grabbed him by the collar and leaned into kiss him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa wait what?" he said as he removed her hands from his collar and held them away from him.

"What are you talking about marriage for? Tsukiumi, I have 9 Sekireis already. I'm not even remotely ready to begin choosing one of them over the others. Tsukiumi, I have no problem with winging you. But if I married you, I would be telling all my Sekirei that I chose someone who is basically a stranger to me. I could never do that to any of them."he said as he lowered her hands.

"But thou said we were fated to be together, did you not? That trumps any other connection, does it not?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes and I also believe I was fated to be with every single one of them. The term Ashikabi means Fated One. You cannot find a winged Sekirei who doesn't believe that it wasn't due to fate that they met their Ashikabi. Tsukiumi I'm sorry, but if me not marrying you is a deal-breaker then I guess I can't be your Ashikabi." he said sadly.

"Thou wouldst refuse me after I offered you my hand in marriage? I was a fool to think that any Ashikabi could be trusted." Tsukiumi said as she whirled around and stomped out of the room, not saying anything as she slammed the door behind her.

Tetsuya was about to go after her when his phone began to ring.

"Hello" he said as he picked it up.

"Hello Tetsuya, it's Takami Sahashi. I thought you'd like to know that Toyotama is awake. You can come and visit her if you like. She's in room 32. Also, Chiho should be up any minute, so you might wanna bring Kuno down with you. She's in the room next to Toyotama." Takami said on the other end.

"Hello?" she asked to no reply, as Tetsuya had dropped his phone on the bed and taken off for Kuno's room at a sprint.

Tetsuya arrived at Kuno's room a few seconds later. He knocked on her door twice before entering. The next sight that Tetsuya saw made him wish he'd waited to hear her reply. When he walked in he saw Kuno was in the process of putting her underwear on. At the sight of Tetsuya, Kuno screamed and moved to cover herself.

"Tetsuya, what are you doing here?" she screamed as she grabbed a blanket to cover herself.

"Sorry Kuno, I just thought you'd wanna know that Chiho is up." Tetsuya said. Despite her state of undress a look of utter happiness spread across Kuno's face at his words.

"Okay, I'll be right there!" she said excitedly as he turned to leave, she moved to follow him.

"Get dressed first." he called back to her.

"Right, sorry!" she cried as she turned around to finish getting dressed. Tetsuya headed over to the elevator, swiped his card and punched the 69 button on it as hard as he could. He rode the elevator down, pacing all the while. When he arrived he ran as fast as he could until he reached the room labeled 32. He slid to a stop in front of the door and reached out an threw it open as quickly as he could. Only to see an empty hospital bed. He slowly walked in to he room

"Toyotama? Are you in here?" he called out as he entered the room. He turned to see Toyotama coming out of the bathroom.

"Hey Tetsuya how's it going?" she asked as she stepped out of the restroom. Before she could say anything else though, Tetsuya rushed forward and gathered her into a powerful hug, spinning her around as he did.

"I was so worried about you, so whats the diagnosis?" he asked, not putting her down on the floor. He stood there, continuing to hold her up off the floor with ease.

"I'm gonna be fine, now can you put me down?" she asked with a laugh.

"Nope." he said playfully with a grin. She smiled down at him.

"Fine, but then you won't get to see my scar." she said teasing voice.

"Ooh okay, show me." he said excitedly as he set her down. As soon as he set her down she moved her hospital gown to reveal a pink scar that had obviously been sewn up recently.

"You like it?" she asked. Tetsuya wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"It's downright sexy." he said as he bent down and kissed her on the lips, causing her bright red wings to appear behind her...

Tsukiumi

_A Few Hours Later..._

Tetsuya arrived back with Toyotama a few minutes later and went to his office to work, leaving his Sekireis alone with Minato's

She leaned against the wall as she watched the crowd of Sekireis disperse and go about their business. Their seemed to be a huge difference in the way they acted. To the untrained eye they seemed to all act the same way, but to her trained eyes she noticed that Tetsuya's Sekireis all had different Crests. His Sekireis also moved with a belied grace and power that bespoke a level of training that was far beyond the ordinary level of a Sekirei. A few of the monkey's Sekireis, particularly the fist-type with the long hair and the ones with the halberd and naginata had it as well, but none of the rest them had it to a level that His(Tetsuya's) did.

His Sekirei all seemed to get along reasonably well, while the monkey's all seemed to squabble amongst themselves in an attempt to gain his favor. It disgusted her to see her fellow Sekirei fight amongst themselves for the favor of a lowly human. The worst part was that the monkey never did anything to stop their squabbling he simply sat there and let them have their way with him. He was spineless and possibly the last person in the world she would let lay a hand on her body.

"Is everything alright?" she heard a voice ask from beside her. She turned and saw a woman dressed like a shrine maiden.

"What concern is it my emotional state to thee?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well you seem particularly distressed. Is everything alright?" she asked as she tilted her head to the side. Something about the woman told Tsukiumi that she could be of help with her current predicament.

"It is this business regarding finding an Ashikabi. The first person I found who I wanted to be my Ashikabi, refused me." Tsukiumi said as she turned away from the woman to look out the window.

"Why did Tetsuya refuse to wing you? I can't imagine he would say no unless he had a good reason." the woman replied.

"He did not refuse to wing me, he refused to marry me. Is it so wrong that I want my Ashikabi to commit fully to me?" she asked as she continued to stare out the window.

"Well no, not in theory. But my son is Ashikabi to nine other Sekirei, Tsukiumi, did you ever stop to consider how they would feel if he married you, someone he had only met a days ago? How would you feel in their shoes?" the woman asked her.

"I assume... that it would hurt me more than anything. It wouldst make me feel like I meant nothing to him... That he would literally choose a stranger over me." she said as she glanced down at the ground.

"Tsukiumi, let's also consider the alternative. What if he did agree to marry you? What if you married him and you realized that he wasn't fully on love with you or committed to you emotionally? Would you want that empty title?" Miya asked insightfully.

"I would not..." Tsukiumi said quietly, still refusing to look at her.

"Tsukiumi, perhaps the answer to your predicament is to give Tetsuya a reason to marry you. I'm sure that if you proved you loved him more than any of the others did or that you were more devoted or capable of protecting him. Perhaps then he would marry you, or along the way you may discover that you no longer need the title. But I digress, I leave the final decision up to you." she said as she turned to leave, when Tsukiumi heard from behind her

"Hey Mom. Hey Tsukiumi, how's it going?" she heard him ask. Tsukiumi was silent.

"Hello Tetsuya, I'd love to stay but I'm needed back at the Inn. But it was good seeing you again." she said as she hugged him and then headed to the elevator.

"So Tsukiumi I assume you'll be leaving soon." Tetsuya said to the water goddess. Tsukiumi turned to face him as she said

"No, I have decided on a course of action. Meet me in thy bedchambers. I have something I wish to say to thee." she said as she walked past him and entered his bedroom. Tetsuya followed her to his bedroom close on her heels. As soon as she was inside he closed the door behind them.

"I recently had an interesting conversation with thou's mother. She helped me to gain additional insight on my dilemma regarding thee. I still wish to marry thee, but it has occurred to me that that might not be possible or appropriate at this time." she said as she turned to face him.

"Oh, and how do you propose to handle this situation?" Tetsuya asked her.

"Make no mistake. I still intend to make thee my husband one day, but until such a time as you an I find each other worthy of those titles, I shall be... content to be thee's Sekirei. So I ask you now; will thou accept me as your Sekirei?" she said as her face turned a bright red, she was obviously very uncomfortable right now.

"I would be honored." Tetsuya said simply as he walked toward her until he was a hair's breadth from her face, staring into her ocean-blue eyes as she gazed into his steel grey ones. Then he slowly reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. He closed his eyes and leaned down and claimed her lips with own and opened his eyes to see her bright blue wings spring out behind her.

She felt her heart soar and a wonderful heat consume her body as they kissed. She felt their bond form and she knew, that even if they were never wed she would be utterly happy with this man in her life.

"I, Sekirei number nine; Tsukiumi do take thee as my Ashikabi. Now and forever." she said as she looked up at him. Tetsuya smiled at her, not saying anything as he took in her beauty.

Minato and his Sekireis left a few hours later, Tetsuya had had a long day and decided to skip dinner and head straight to bed. On his way to his bedroom though, he was caught by Tsukiumi.

"Doth thou think that we could..." she said nervously as she began to blush and look down nervously.

"Yes, Tsukiumi?" he asked quizzically.

"Could I bunk with thee for tonight?" she said as she finally managed to work up the courage to look him in the eye once more.

"Of course, as long as you only mean to sleep." he said with a grin. He saw no harm in letting her bunk with him for the first night. He'd help her get settled tomorrow but for now he was tired...

He went to bed a few minutes later and was joined by Tsukiumi a few minutes later, they slept peacefully until his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he asked tiredly as he answered the phone

"Tetsuya, it's Takami you need to get down here now. It's Chiho. Something's wrong." she said quickly.

"I'll be right there." he said as he sat bolt upright.

"What's wrong?" Tsukiumi asked as she rolled over to look at him.

"I don't know." Tetsuya said, dreading the worst...

Author's Note: Alrighty, two chapters left after this one before the first half of this story is over. Chapter 19's rewrite will be posted on 5/1/2013. Also the new poll is up, feel free to vote. I guess that's it. This is 19th Angel, signing off.


	21. Saying Hello And Waving Goodbye

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alrighty, first off I'd like to thank all those who've voted on my poll for Orochi's last Sekirei. Uzume is in the lead, followed by Toyotama, Tsukiumi, and Akitsu. Also, finally broke 150 reviews! Anyways on to a new chapter.

Chapter 21- Saying Hello And Waving Goodbye

Tetsuya sat in Takami's office, tapping his foot impatiently. He was tired beyond all reason and was hardly in the mood to be kept waiting. Takami came in carrying a clipboard and sat down behind her desk.

"You better have a damn good reason for waking me." he said tiredly as he rubbed his face.

"It is. Something happened to Chiho." she said seriously. This got Tetsuya's attention, he leaned forward in his seat to listen to what Takami had to say.

"Is she gonna be okay? Did something go wrong with the surgery?" he asked worriedly.

"The surgery went fine, you can thank Benitsubasa for getting her here in time. But we didn't know anything about her treatment when we gave her antibiotics. But the point is that some of the antibiotics reacted badly with some of the drugs for her treatment..." she said as her voice trailed off.

"And? What happened?" Tetsuya asked as he got up and placed his hands on her desk. Takami sat there uncomfortably for a bit, unsure of how to phrase her next bit of news.

"Her immune system was basically wiped out. Which of course means there's nothing to stop the virus anymore. Any treatment we devise would've worked in tandem with her own system to help fight the virus. Now that her immune system is gone there's nothing we can do" she said finally. At this news, Tetsuya fell back into the chair he'd been sitting in and sat there in silence, trying to contemplate what this meant.

"How long?" he muttered quietly after several minutes of silence.

"What?" Takami asked, she had not caught what he said.

"How. Long." he said slowly.

"A few hours, a day at most. We can make her comfortable but that's about it. I've already told her and I imagine she's still awake, if you have anything you wanna say to her. You might wanna do it now, considering that as she starts to go she won't be able to maintain consciousness."

Yeah, I'll do that..." Tetsuya said as he stood up and left the office.

_An hour later back on the 79th floor of Teitou Tower..._

Haihane was woken from her sleep by a loud, rhythmic, pounding sound from the gym, which sat next to her room on that floor of the tower. She rolled out of bed, dressed only in her bra and panties and walked over to the gym next door. When she opened the door she saw Tetsuya, dressed in a pair of black workout pants and wearing a pair of fingerless boxing gloves.

He was covered in sweat and pounding on one of the punching bags designed for use by Sekireis. Haihane noted that he had a new mark on his arm, in addition to the snowflake. It looked like a tattoo of a white cloth wrapped around his left forearm crossing on top of his arm to form an X shape.

"Hey Tetsuya, what are you doing up?" she asked sleepily as he continued to beat on the bag.

"Hey Haihane, I couldn't sleep. So I thought I'd come here to blow off some steam." he grunted as he continued to angrily pound on the bag. She didn't say anything about it but, it was kinda hot the way he was working up a sweat. She had always thought he was handsome for obvious reason,he looked like he could bench press her with ease. But when she saw him working up a sweat like this, it made her want to do **things **to him, naughty things. But as she watched she could swear he was upset about something.

"Hey Tetsuya?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Haihane." he replied flatly as he punched the bag which had started to swing under the force of his blows.

"Is everything alright? You seem upset about something." she asked uncertainly.

"Everything is fine. It's not like I tried my hardest to do some good with this job by saving Chiho, only for her to end up dead anyway. But oh wait, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!" he said the last part in a shout as he suddenly delivered a haymaker left hook to the punching bag, sending it flying across the room with a shriek of tearing metal as the chain tore. It hit the ground with a loud thud. Haihane recoiled in fear at his sudden outburst. Then watched as Tetsuya stomped across the room and picked up the bag by the chain.

"Oh just fucking perfect!" he exclaimed as noticed that the chain was broken. He picked the bag up by the chain and heaved it over his shoulder, slamming it to the ground angrily. The side of the bag split open as it hit the floor, causing the silver sand inside to flow out onto the floor. He turned around angrily to see Haihane standing there looked scared.

"Haihane, what's wrong?" he asked, the sight of his scared Sekirei distracting him from his rage. He took off his gloves and walked over to his fourth Sekirei. He reached out and pulled her into an embrace, at first she resisted but she soon let him gather her into his arms.

"Sorry, it's just... you had me scared there for a bit. So will you tell me what's got you so angry?" she asked as he hugged her close to him. Tetsuya was silent for a long while until finally,

"Chiho's dying and it's my fault." he said quietly. Haihane pulled away from him to look at him.

"How is it your fault? Kazehana told me what happened. There's nothing you could have done. If you had sent more of us to the hospital, Tsukiumi most likely would've ended up forcibly winged by the South or the East. It's Higa's fault, not yours Tetsuya. It was his fault that Chiho got hurt and it was his fault that Kazehana attacked you. You're only one man Tetsuya, you can't save everyone. You tried your best and that's all anyone can ask of you. You can't blame yourself every time someone gets hurt or by the end of of the game you'll be ready to hang yourself." she said as she hugged her Ashikabi once more. Tetsuya was deep in thought as she hugged him. She was right, it was Higa's fault. But that didn't make him feel any better right now. He loved Chiho like a sister and he had failed her.

"Why so quiet?" Haihane asked as she continued to hug him.

"I'm just thinking." he said quietly.

"About what?" she asked as she looked up at him.

"A lot of things." he said.

"Hey, I know it's not my business. But if Chiho is dying, you might wanna talk to her. I'm sure she needs someone to talk to as much as you do." she said as she let go of him and turned to go to her room.

"Hey Haihane." he called to her as she was heading back to her room.

"Yea?" she asked as she turned to face him.

"Thanks." he said with a smile.

"No problem, but can I ask you a question while I've got you?" she asked.

"Yea, what's up?"

"You and I don't hang out a lot, and I understand you're busy and you're trying to make us all happy and I'm okay with that. But I guess what I'm asking is, do you like having me as your Sekirei?" she asked as she blushed in a rare moment of shyness and looked at the floor. She was suddenly very aware of her state of undress as she moved to cover herself.

"What brought this on? I mean I have no problem answering, it's just I don't get why you're asking you basically jumped me when I first winged you." he asked in response to her strange question.

"Well that's because I wasn't thinking. I was just trying to make Benitsubasa jealous. But I still wanna know if you like having me as your Sekirei." she said as she looked at him again.

"Of course I do Haihane. I love you." he said as he walked over to where she stood. She muttered something he couldn't hear.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"I said prove it." she said shyly.

"How do you propose I do that?" he asked, puzzled.

"Kiss me and promise me that, no matter what you will always be there for me." she said as she stared up at him. Tetsuya bent down and brushed some of her gray hair out of her face so he could see her gray eyes. They were a few shades lighter than his own steel gray ones. He bent down and kissed her gently on the lips, causing her indigo wings to appear behind her.

"Haihane, I love you and I will always be there. Whether it is to protect you on the battlefield or to listen when you have a problem. I will always do my best to keep you safe and happy. You have my word on that." he whispered as their lips parted.

"I believe you." she said with a smile. She continued to gaze into his eyes. She couldn't believe how much she loved him despite not having spent much time with him but she didn't mind, it was nice to have someone to fight for. They stood there not saying anything for a few minutes until she had to cover her mouth as she yawned.

"Alright go back to bed Haihane, I have to go see Chiho. I'll talk to you later." he said with a small smile.

"Okay. I'll see you later." she said as she hugged him once more. He returned her hug, careful not to touch the scratch marks left by her accidental injury from her claws.

"And remember not to blame yourself. It's Higa's fault not yours." she added as she pulled away and headed inside her room.

"Will do." he said, more to himself than anything else after she closed the door behind her.

_An hour and a half later down in Chiho's hospital room..._

"It's not fair! You're a good person, why do you have to die?" Kuno wailed from her Ashikabi's bedside.

"It's alright, Kuno. I'm not scared to die, I'm just glad I got to meet you and Kazehana before I died." Chiho said to her first Sekirei.

"No! It's not fair!" Kuno wailed as she balled her hands into fist and angrily pounded them against her knees.

"Kuno, sometimes life isn't fair. You just have to take it all in stride and learn from it." Kazehana said from beside her. The wind manipulator had been strangely silent during the entire conversation.

"Why not? Why does Chiho have to die while bad men like Higa and Minaka get to live in luxury? Huh? C'MON SOMEONE TELL ME." Kuno screamed angrily. Needless to say, the Singing Sekirei had not taken the news well at all.

"Because Minaka was in the right place at the right time and Higa has rich parents. That is why Chiho has to die while those two sleep soundly in their beds." said a voice from behind Kuno. Kuno turned to see Tetsuya standing in the door.

"YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! IF YOU HADN'T TRIED TO MOVE HER, SHE'D BE FINE. HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?" Kuno shrieked at him as she stood up an turned to face him.

"KUNO! THAT IS ENOUGH! This is not Tetsuya's fault. He was only trying to help! If you wanna blame anyone, blame me for not being able to protect Chiho." Kazehana said forcefully as she stood up.

"Girls come on, don't fight. This isn't anyone's fault. It was just an accident." Chiho said from her bed.

"NO, IT'S NOT! YOU DON'T DESERVE THIS! WHY DON'T YOU BLAME HIM? IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!" Kuno continued to shriek at Tetsuya. Tetsuya stood there impassively, trying his best not to cry. He couldn't help but feel that Kuno was right...

"Kazehana, get Kuno out of here. I need to talk to Tetsuya alone." Chiho said from the bed. Kazehana grabbed Kuno by the arm and led the still shrieking Sekirei out of the room. Tetsuya walked over to the bed and took a seat next to Chiho.

"Hey." he said as he sat down.

"Hey. How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'll be okay in a few decades. Listen Chiho, I just wanna tell you how sorry I am-" he began when Chiho interrupted him saying,

"Tetsuya it's fine. It's not your fault. You were only trying to help, and that means more to me than you will ever know. You were the first person since my Sekireis to care about what happened to me. We only knew each other for a few weeks, but you were like a brother to me. I really appreciate all you did for me. But before I go, I have one request to make of you." she said as she rolled over to look at him.

"Anything." he said.

"I've heard you can break the bond between an Ashikabi and Sekirei. Is that true?" she asked him curiously.

"I've done it once before. I think I could do it again if I needed to. Why do you ask?" he replied.

"Dr. Sahashi tells me that when I die, Kazehana and Kuno will be terminated too. Tetsuya you have to save them. Trust me when I say that a world without them is not a world I wanna live in. They are both so amazing and I can't die happy knowing that my illness will take them too." Chiho said as she began to tear up. She sniffed and Tetsuya could tell she was trying her hardest not to weep openly.

"I'm not sure it works that way, last time the Sekirei's Ashikabi was abusing her. I don't know if it works on people in your situation." he said.

"You have to try Tetsuya! I can't let Kazehana and Kuno die with me." she said desperately as she grabbed him by the wrist.

"Alright, I'll try." Tetsuya said as he removed her hand from his wrist. He inhaled deeply and held it for a few seconds before releasing it. He reached out and placed a hand on Chiho's forehead and tried to remember how he had broken Yashima's bond with Junichi. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind.

He stood there for a long while, he could feel Chiho's fear and desperation. He could also feel her bond with her 2 Sekireis, it was a bond built on love. Unlike one built on fear and hurt like Yashima's had been. Like the last time, the incantation entered his head unbidden.

"I sever the bond between this Ashikabi and her Sekireis. So that they may be spared her fate." he said, though this time there was no flash of light. Simply the feeling of her bond with her Sekireis disappearing from Chiho's mind.

They both heard a flurry of motion from outside in the hallway as Kuno burst through the door with Kazehana hot on her heels and ran over to Tetsuya and began to weakly pound on his chest with her tiny fists.

"WHAT DID YOU DO? WHY AM I NOT WINGED ANYMORE?" she screeched at him as tears streamed down her face. Kazehana grabbed her from behind, stopping her assault on him temporarily. She squirmed in Kazehana's grasp as she tried to get free

"LEMME GO KAZEHANA, I'M GONNA KILL HIM!" she shrieked. Tetsuya was thankful that her powers had been neutralized when she touched him.

"Kuno, it's okay. It's not his fault, I asked him to do it!" Chiho called to her first Sekirei. Kuno stopped her struggles, freezing in place as she turned to look at Chiho.

"What? Why? Do you not want us?" Kuno asked as Kazehana set her down on the ground. Chiho grimaced and turned to Tetsuya

"Can you give us a minute?" she asked. Tetsuya nodded and headed outside so they could talk in private. He took a seat on one of the chairs outside the room and out his head in his hands, he was so tired, he had only gotten an hour of sleep before Takami had called him. He had been up almost 27 hours now. He'd lost about a pint of blood in the fight against Mutsu and was still feeling the effects of it. He started to rub his eyes tiredly when he felt a hand gently shake his shoulder.

"Hey you awake?" he heard a voice ask him. He looked up to see Karasuba sitting in the chair next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine Karasuba. What's up?" he said as he looked up at his Sekirei and swordsmanship teacher.

"Not much. Just thought I'd see how you're doing." she said as she crossed her legs casually.

"Since when do you care how I'm feeling?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine, be that way. I was just trying to be friendly." she said angrily as she crossed her arms and looked away from him to glare down the hallway.

"Sorry, it's just it's not like you to worry about me. But don't get me wrong, it's a nice change. So what brings you down here?" he said apologetically.

"I just thought I'd come visit you is all. And why is it so odd that I worry about my student and Ashikabi." she asked, still sounding slightly angry as she stared down the hall way.

"I don't know, I guess I just never thought about you cared about me like that. I mean other than training and work we don't spend any time together, and when I offer to you always say no." he said with a shrug.

"Well what if I did care about you like that? What would that mean for us?" she said, blushing slightly as she turned to look at him.

"Well I guess it would mean that I'd make an effort to see you outside of training and work. I'd try to spend the day with you and only you from time to time. I'd try to show you every day that I care about you and your happiness, even if it was just a little thing." he said with a smile as he looked at the Black Sekirei, who looked all the world like just a normal girl right now and a shy one at that. It seemed to be a common theme with his Sekireis that weren't too outwardly affectionate.

"Would you kiss me? I mean if I wanted you to." she said nervously.

"I've already done it 3 times so... yeah I'd like to think I would." he said with a chuckle.

"What about doing something... more than kissing?" she asked hesitantly.

"If we're alone and the mood is right and it's okay with you... then yes." he said quietly to her.

"I think... I would like that." she said with the slightest hint of a grin.

"So what exactly does that mean?" he said. He thought he knew what she was getting at. But he needed to be sure.

"It means... that I want to try to be something more than colleagues with you Tetsuya, I want to get to know you better. And I want you to get to know me better. Though I have some conditions." she said, suddenly serious.

"I'm listening." he said attentively.

"You have to promise me that, from this point on it's only about the future. What I was and what I did in the past can't matter to you at all." she said as she took his hand in her own. He gave her a gentle smile as he said

"It didn't matter before."

"Okay, good. Also you have to promise me that; until I'm ready, you can't tell anyone about us. I don't want Yume to hear about us and start going on about true love an whatnot." she said seriously.

"I can do that." he said.

"Alrighty, last of all; I need to know to know that when I need you, you will be there. It can't matter where you are or what you're doing, you have to put me above everything. The last time I let someone in, they chose someone else and left me all alone in the world. Afterward, it hurt me so bad I thought I'd never love anyone. I can't survive that another time. I'm not asking you to marry me, I just need to know that you won't leave me all alone again. Can you promise me that Tetsuya, that I won't ever have to be alone again?" she said earnestly.

Tetsuya was silent for a bit, what Karasuba was asking for was a serious commitment and it would look to some like he was playing favorites. But he loved Karasuba and what she was suggesting would probably help her to work through her issues and show the entire world what he saw in her, that the Black Sekirei wasn't a monster, she was just a misunderstood woman.

"I promise that as long as I live, you will never have to be alone Karasuba. I will stick with you through the good and the bad. I will never leave you." he said to her, utterly sincere. Without warning, Karasuba got up and straddled him. Tetsuya opened his mouth to speak when she placed a finger on his lips, silencing him

"Shut up and just enjoy this." she said as she bent down and pushed him against the back of the chair and kissed him forcefully on the lips, causing her midnight-black wings to appear behind her again. She pulled away and grinned at him,

"Expect more of that in the future." she purred in his ear. He grinned back at her when he was yanked back to reality by the sound of Kuno's crying from the hospital room, followed shortly by several doctors rushing into the room. He didn't need to be in the room to figure out what was going on inside.

"Hey Karasuba, can I ask you something?" he asked the woman still straddling his lap. If anyone knew about loss, it was the woman on his lap.

"Sure." she replied.

"What would you do in my place about the whole Chiho situation? I have no idea what to do right now." he said to her.

"I'd want revenge. I'd wanna take EVERYTHING from Higa, his company, his money, and his Sekireis. And finally, when he knows exactly how bad he fucked up by messing with my friends, I'd come for his head." she said darkly to him.

Tetsuya thought about it for a while, the more he thought about it, the more it seemed that Karasuba was right. Higa had been playing with people's lives for long enough, it was time for him to pay.

"You're right Karasuba. It's time for payback. But before that, I have to do something. This whole incident has me thinking." he said to her as she got off his lap.

"Okay, well I'll see you later. I've got things to do." she said as she turned to leave

"Okay." he replied as she began to walk away. He smiled as she walked away, it was nice to see that something good had come out of this mess. He left and headed up to his room to allow Chiho's Sekireis to spend the last chance they'd ever have to spend time with Chiho alone with her. He couldn't stand to watch her die anyways. He might as well not intrude on them anyways. He walked back into his room and picked up his phone of his nightstand. He inhaled and held it, he wasn't sure how to do this. This particular subject had been on his mind for a while but he had no idea to approach it, so he decided to face it head on. He dialed the number and held the phone up to his ear. It rang 3 times before someone picked it up.

"Hello?" he heard the familiar voice say. He let out the breath he'd been holding as he asked,

"Hey Mom, it's Tetsuya. Could you tell me where dad's buried?"

Author's Note: Alrighty please read and review as always. Only one chapter left and thanks to some recently released manga chapters I've read I have some fun info to drop on all of you. This is 19th Angel, signing off.


	22. Fall Of The Guardian

A New Kind Of Ashikabi

I do not own Sekirei or any of it's characters, that honor belongs to Sakura Ashika. I own only Tetsuya.

Author's Note: Alrighty this author's note will be a doozy. First off I thank all my faithful readers. Especially AcediaPrototype for your help with the entire story, Garyu for your insight on writing characters, FreeTraderBeowolf for suggesting ideas I never would've thought of on my own (you saw one just last chapter), Frayner for your help when the site was weird, Emeraldfirelade for your amazing in-depth reviews, ShadowUzumaki 39 for your ideas about powers for Tetsuya. There are so many more who I should recognize but don't have the time to and I apologize. Act 2 of Tetsuya's Story will be titled Rise Of The Warrior and will be out once I get a few more stories out, it could be out anywhere between August and Christmas. A few upcoming projects will be:

Clipped Wings: a story featuring several scrapped numbers, OC's needed. PM me if interested.

One Night/ The Artificial Ashikabi: Takehito stays home one night instead of heading to MBI to deactivate the Jinki, changing everything... Miya x Takehito, Kazehana x Minaka, Minato x Disciplinary Squad. Yukari x Amebane/Harem. Natsuo x Harem, OC x Matsu/Harem

Broken Ones: A story of several "broken" Sekireis and people, not just Akitsu.

I still need help with them all so any you can give me would be helpful. Now my readers onto the conclusion of Act 1.

Chapter 22- Fall Of The Guardian

"Tetsuya, why would you want to know where your father is buried?" Miya asked concernedly.

"Well this whole business with Chiho has me thinking about unfinished business. And it occurred to me I've never said my goodbyes to dad. And I figured with the Third Stage starting, now's as good a time as any." he said as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"Well why don't you come by the Inn first, then we'll go together." his mother replied.

"Okay Mom, but only if I can bring Karasuba. Mom, I know you don't like her, but I love her and you need to get used to the fact that she's gonna be a part of my life for the rest of my life. I'm gonna need her by my side for a lot of the Third and Fourth Stages and if you won't let her in the Inn, then I won't visit. I'm sorry, I know it sounds like I'm being mean. But I need to be united with my Sekireis in the coming days if I'm gonna win. And would you please say something? I feel awful about saying this." he said, since his mother had been silent during his entire rant.

"Alright Tetsuya I don't like it, but you're right. But after we visit your father, there is something else I need to tell you."

"Alright, I'll be over in a few hours, I need to take a nap first." he replied tiredly.

"Alrighty, see you soon. I love you, Tetsuya." his mother replied kindly.

"Love you too, Mom" he said with a smile.

Shortly after, he turned and saw a large box that had the sticker from the R&D department, along with a note from Minaka. The note indicated that the contents of the box would help him in future battles. Apparently, Minaka wasn't too keen on losing Tetsuya, especially since with him dead there would be no one to enforce the rules. He would check it out later, but for now Tetsuya was tired.

He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes to get some sleep when he heard his door open and someone enter. He didn't open eyes, he knew it was one of his Sekireis. After a minute he felt someone lay down next to him, then another lay down on his other side. He said nothing as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

He awoke to the feeling of two people laying down on top of him. He opened his eyes to see that his two guests were none other than the Thundertwins, both of them were still asleep on top of him. Hibiki had fallen asleep with her head on his stomach, Hikari had decided to lay her head on his upper chest. He smiled as he reached for his phone to check the time. He looked at the phone to see that the time was 4PM. Thankfully he didn't have to choose between getting up and not waking them, seeing as how his movements woke them. Hikari groaned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and her groans causing Hibiki to wake with a yawn.

"Did you two sleep well?" he asked his favorite pair of twin Sekireis. Hibiki nodded

"You bet your sweet ass I did." Hikari said as she drew circles on his chest with her finger. Tetsuya smiled at her as he sat up.

"So, not that I mind, but what are you girls doing in here? He asked as the sat up to look at him. At his question they both glanced down at the bed

"We just wanted to see how you were doing. Haihane said you were pretty broken up about Chiho." Hibiki said quietly.

"Yeah, we were both kinda worried about you. But when we came in you were asleep. So..." Hikari's voice trailed off at the end.

"Girls, I'm okay. But I'm by no means fine. But I've got a plan of attack. Both figuratively and literally. So for now you can stop worrying. My top priority is still and always will be making sure that you are safe and happy. Now come here." He said as he spread his arms. In response, Hikari and Hibiki basically tackled him, wrapping themselves around him as he hugged them. He pulled them both close to him as he hugged them. After a long while he released them, as they pulled away Hikari asked

"So any plans today?"

"Yea, I'm heading to the Inn for a little bit, Then my mom and I are heading to my dad's grave together." he replied.

"Do you think... that we could come with you?" Hibiki asked quietly as she gave Tetsuya a hopeful look.

"Of course, all you have to do is ask." he said. They both smiled at his words. It always amazed him how they looked so similar, but were so different. Yet at the same time, they acted so similar.

"Now I'm gonna change. So why don't you do the same?" he said as he stood up and took off his shirt. Hibiki started to blush and quickly hurried from the room. Hikari however started to grin like a madwoman as Tetsuya exposed his chest to her. This delighted Hikari to no end, as his training with Karasuba had caused his moderately impressive physique to become more toned than ever. Scars from his fight with Mutsu covered his arms and chest, along with 4 large cuts were present and stitched up on his body, two on his chest, one on his right shoulder, with another on his lower back.

"Ooh gimme a little twirl." she said as she made a twirling motion with her finger. Tetsuya chuckled and decided to indulge her by holding his arms out straight and turning to face her. Hikari noted the snowflake on his shoulder as well as the new mark from Uzume on his left forearm.

"Is that one on your arm from Uzume?" she asked as she walked over to his and traced some of the smaller healed scars on his chest. Tetsuya noticed that her tone had changed to the same one she used when they'd discussed Akitsu.

"It is, and trust me Hikari when I say your time will come. You've just gotta be patient." he said as he leaned down until his face was only inches from hers.

"Fine, but you better make it worth my while." Hikari said, sounding irritated.

"I will, but how's this for now?" he said as he bent down and claimed her lips with his own. The more impulsive of the Thundertwins responded by reaching up and pulling him closer to her. As she kissed him, she pulled him against her with what could be only described as a primal need, as she pushed her tongue into his mouth and tried to dominate his with her own. He was surprised by her change in attitude, it only lasted by a second though, as he quickly drew on his years of experience, he fought her tongue with his own. And after several seconds he managed to push her own tongue back into her mouth with his own. They continued like this for almost 2 minutes. Until finally, Hikari pulled away with a gasp.

"That. Was. Amazing. I look forward to our first time if you can bring your A-Game like you did just now." she panted. Tetsuya grinned at her as he said.

"I do too." Seeming satisfied, Hikari turned and hurried off to get dressed.

After that, he put on a black t-shirt and blue jeans. He turned to leave when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked nothing like he did 3 months ago when he winged Uzume. His body was more lean than it had been, it wasn't the body of an athlete. It was a body built for battle. It was the body of a Sekirei.

He'd always been attractive, he knew now that it was due to his Sekirei heritage. But recently his muscles had become so toned that he looked like a spokesman for an exercise machine. He knew from experience that he could take a Fist-type on in hand-to-hand combat. He'd tested that theory a few times against Yume and Benitsubasa. Though he couldn't yet match Yume's speed or Benitsubasa's strength, he was getting closer every day. He still preferred the sword though, it felt more natural to him.

Though all his looks and all his training couldn't save one of the most important people to him in the world. And now she had died 10 floors below him, and he hadn't even been able to bring himself to be with her. He decided then and there that things were gonna change, he had let too much go and lost the one human besides his uncle that he cared about to let anything else slide. He decided right then that both Minaka's and Higa's time was up. Things were gonna change. He decided right then, that no longer would he be a guardian. One who simply protected, reacting to those who had wronged him. He didn't know what he was now, but things were gonna change. There was a knock on the door behind him, it startled him from his thoughts.

"Come in." he called as he turned to face the door. It opened and Kazehana walked in, looking miserable.

"Hey Tetsuya. How's it going?" she asked quietly.

"If I said good, would you believe me?" he asked offhandedly.

"No. I wouldn't." she said in the same quiet tone. Tetsuya was silent for a long time. Until it occurred to him that Kazehana might be of a similar mind to him.

"Hey Kazehana, if I could offer you a chance to take revenge on Minaka and Higa, what would you say?" he said with a raised eyebrow. Kazehana looked taken aback at his sudden question. She was silent for a long while. So long that Tetsuya felt the need to say,

"But if, considering your experiences with the Sekirei Plan; you don't wanna join me, I completely under-" he started to say when Kazehana interrupted him.

"Yes." she said simply. Tetsuya was caught off-guard by her interruption.

"Yes what?" he asked, puzzled.

"Yes, I will join you. Chiho was the most important person in my life, and Higa stole her from me, and Minaka is no better." she said resolutely.

"Okay, wow. Actually didn't expect you to answer quickly, so what does that mean?" he asked, still a little in shock from her acceptance.

"It means that Sekirei #03, Kazehana, is offering herself to you and your cause. My power, my body, my heart, mind, and soul… I will give them all to you. If you can promise me that you will stop at nothing to get justice for Chiho." she said as she closed the distance between them.

"Kazehana, I will not rest until Chiho's death is avenged. I'm gonna hunt Higa down like a dog, there will be no place, no forgotten crevice where he can hide from me. I'm going to take everything from him and when his world lies in ashes, I will kill him. I've got something special planned for Minaka, too." he said with conviction.

"Then we are allies, and I know this is sudden but... Would you be my Ashikabi? I know it's sudden, but I want you. You cared so much for Chiho and you care so much about your Sekireis. You worry over them, even cry for them. You're more than willing to risk your life for them, like when you fought Mutsu to save Tsukiumi. But more than that, is the fact that you love them all so very much. We Sekireis need someone like that... **I **need someone like that. The days to come are going to be tough for me. But if you make me your Sekirei, I promise to help you the best I can. I also promise that you won't be just a substitute for Chiho. Now that I'm unwinged again, by body aches for you; I want you with every fiber of my being. Do you want me Tetsuya?" she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. As she did, Tetsuya was acutely aware of the feeling of her breasts pressed against his chest, as well as the feel of her breath tickling his neck.

"Of course I do, any Ashikabi would be lucky to have you." he replied.

"I want to hear you say it." She said as she leaned in closer to him.

"I want you Kazehana." he whispered in her ear. No sooner had he finished saying this than he felt Kazehana's arm around his chest and her tongue deep inside of his mouth. At the same time her pink-purple wings spread out behind her and her new Sekirei crest formed on her back. After nearly 5 minutes Kazehana pulled away, panting slightly.

" I pledge myself to you. Now and forever." she said as their lips parted. Tetsuya smiled back at her as he said

"Alright, well I've gotta go meet my mom at the Inn. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Can I come with you? It's been a while since I've seen Matsu." she asked.

"I don't see why not." he said with a shrug.

"Alright, let me go change then we'll go." she said as she hurried to the room she and Kuno shared.

After that, he grabbed his sword and went to let the Thundertwins that he was leaving soon, at which point Akitsu, Tsukiumi, Toyotama, Uzume, Yume, and to everybody's surprise Karasuba insisted on coming. Benitsubasa and Haihane wanted to come as well, but Karasuba informed them that they had to go on patrol; a point that Tetsuya didn't countermand. Kazehana, now dressed in her uniform from the Disciplinary Squad, suggested that they take Kuno; who had elected to live the rest of her life without another Ashikabi, since Miya would be able to shelter her from the combat in the future stages. If she stayed in the Tower, Minaka would be able to reach her.

When Tetsuya informed everyone that Kazehana was his newest Sekirei, he was met with mixed reactions. Akitsu, Karasuba, Hibiki, and Yume seemed not to care one way or the other. While Uzume, Toyotama, and Haihane seemed to be glad that he had winged her, apparently they had taken a liking to her. Hikari, Benitsubasa, and Tsukiumi all seemed to be mad that he had winged her, though none of them said too much on the point. After that they left for Maison Izumo to meet Miya. It always baffled Tetsuya how his small outing always turned into huge group events. He guessed it was simply an occupational hazard of being an Ashikabi...

_30 minutes later..._

They arrived at the Inn with no incident, Tetsuya guessed that Higa was too cowardly to attack him out in the open. He walked through the gate to see Musubi, Kaho, Ikki, and Namiji practicing in the yard. They all froze as they saw him and his Sekireis enter the yard. Ikki and Namiji began to visibly quake in fear at the sight of Karasuba. While Musubi and Kaho were delighted to see Yume.

"Hey Musubi have you seen my mom around?" Tetsuya asked.

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen. So what are you doing here Karasuba?" Musubi asked Karasuba. Karasuba grinned at her as she said,

"I actually came to talk to Miya." she said as she began to follow Tetsuya inside the house, along with Tsukiumi. Tetsuya walked into the kitchen to see Miya and Nanaha doing dishes. Tsukiumi had headed down the hall to use the lavatory.

"Hey mom, you ready to go?" he asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Almost Tetsuya, just a few minutes." she said warmly.

"Hey Miya how've you been? Can we talk somewhere?" Karasuba said as she entered the kitchen.

"Hello Karasuba, Tetsuya told me you'd be coming." Miya said frigidly.

"Wait, he did?" Karasuba asked, sounding surprised as she turned to look at him.

"Yes, I did. I told Miya that if she wanted me to keep visiting that she had to let you come too. Because you're important to me." he said, causing Karasuba to blush slightly.

"Well anyways, we'll wait for you in the dining room." Tetsuya said as he turned and headed to the dining room, Karasuba right behind him. They took a seat at the table and waited for Miya to finish the dishes. Tsukiumi arrived and took a seat next to Tetsuya.

"So tell me Tetsuya; if thy mother is indeed the fearsome Sekirei number one, why doth she run an inn rather that fight in the Sekirei plan?" Tsukiumi asked as she watched Musubi and Kaho spar with Akitsu and Toyotama. Yume watched on with interest. While Kazehana and Uzume had disappeared to parts unknown. It seemed as if in the short time they had known each other, the two had grown quite close. Kuno had gone upstairs with Ikki for one reason or another.

"Because Tsukiumi, my father was not her Ashikabi but she loved him all the same. And the Sekirei plan's prize is to spend your life with the one you love most in the world. So my mother has nothing to gain by participating in the game. You seem to enjoy fighting. Tell me, what will you do after the game when you no longer have to fight?" he asked her.

"I... I had not thought of what I would do after the game." she said.

"Well perhaps that is something you should think on. We won't be fighting forever. One day we'll have to settle down." he said as his mother entered the room.

"Tetsuya, I'm ready to go." Miya said as she entered the room.

"Alrighty." Tetsuya said as he stood up.

"Miya, can I come with you two? There's something I need to say to you two. It's about **that **night." Karasuba said as she stood up. Tetsuya froze where he stood, Karasuba had only told him once about that night. It seemed to be a sensitive topic for the most part.

"Speaking of Takehito, Kazehana and I are coming too." A voice said from the stairs. Tetsuya turned to see Matsu standing there next to Kazehana.

"Why are you two coming?" Tetsuya asked, slightly confused.

"Well, your dad was our friend as well. In fact, Kazehana was there when he decided he was gonna propose to your mother." Matsu said as she gestured to Kazehana.

"Oh wow. Kazehana, you'll have tell me about that someday." Tetsuya said, amazed that one of his Sekireis had been friends with his father.

"Yeah, I've got a lot of stories about your dad. You just lemme know when you wanna hear more and I'll tell you." his 11th Sekirei said with a smile.

"Okay, but that'll have to wait. Let's get going before it gets too late." Tetsuya said, wanting to get underway as soon as possible. Miya nodded her assent and they turned and headed out the door and headed toward the cemetery.

On the way Tetsuya asked if Miya had the room to house Kuno. Miya said that she had the room for 4 more people before she had absolutely no more room left and would have to close her doors to new visitors. When Miya asked why he hadn't brought more of his Sekireis, Tetsuya told her that he'd made it clear to the majority of his Sekireis that he needed to do this on his own. But, he also agreed that Kazehana and Karasuba had just as good a reason to come as he did.

They arrived at the cemetery a few minutes later. Miya led them between the rows of grave markers till they arrived at their destination. It was a simple headstone, with two columns that read on one side.

_Here lies Takehito Asama,_

_A Loving Father And Devoted Husband_

_Taken Too Soon_

_1969-2001_

On the other side of the of the grave was engraved and painted red:

_Miya Asama_

_Loving Mother And Wife_

_Protector Of Those In Need_

Tetsuya noted that the birth date of his mother was strangely absent. He stood there, unsure of what to say or do. But was surprised when Karasuba spoke up,

"What I wanted to tell you two about that night was, that I'm sorry about that night. I'm not sorry about suggesting what I did, that decision saved the lives of many Sekireis that day. What I am sorry about, is that it cost Takehito his life. That robbed you both of him. Miya I took your husband from you; Tetsuya I took your father, and I apologize for that. Miya I know you won't forgive me, but I want you to know that I am sorry about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be alone." Karasuba said as she turned and headed over and leaned against a large tree.

"You guys continue without me, I'm gonna go talk to her." Tetsuya said as he rushed after her. As he rushed after Karasuba, Kazehana stepped toward the gravestone.

Tetsuya reached Karasuba a few seconds later. As he neared the tree, he stopped. He could hear Karasuba crying as she leaned against the tree. Tetsuya walked up behind her and gently grabbed her by the shoulder, as he did Karasuba turned around and without warning, hugged him. She hugged him tight against her chest and began to cry into his shoulder. He held her tight in his arms as she continued to cry. Until finally, he heard her whisper.

"I'm so sorry." she said as she continued to silently sob into his shoulder.

"For what?" he asked as he continued to hold onto her.

"For your dad. I know what I said, but I'm still so sorry. Before we ever met, I had already fucked up your life. So tell me, why do you care about a failure like me?" she said as she looked up at him through tear filled-eyes.

" I care because I think you're a good person deep down, you just don't let anyone see it. I also care because you're my Sekirei; and because you've done so much for me already. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to save Tsukiumi. I owe you so much Karasuba, and I don't want you to ever feel guilty about what you did. Your decision saved lives, and you should never feel bad about that. And if you still feel bad about it, we've got the rest of our lives to make it up to my mother. Karasuba, you are both my Sekirei and my friend, as well as my teacher; I will always love you, even if you don't love yourself." he said as he brushed some of her hair behind her ear and began to stroke her cheek with his thumb. Karasuba sniffed and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.

"Wow. That sounded so corny, you know that?" she said with a chuckle.

"I know." he said with a smile.

"My, my... That was quite a speech you gave." a voice from behind Tetsuya said. All expression fell from Tetsuya's face as he realized the source of the voice... Izumi Higa. Karasuba was barely able to get her arms around Tetsuya's arms as he whirled around and moved to try to strangle the man.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A MAN? I AM GOING TO RIP OUT YOU THROAT AND FEED IT TO TO YOU!" Tetsuya roared furiously as Karasuba barely managed to hold him back as he struggled to get at the man who had killed Chiho and almost killed Toyotama. Karasuba was slowly losing her grip on her Ashikabi when a voice rang out.

"Tetsuya! Control yourself, there will be time for that later. But do not behave like that around your father's grave!" Miya called over to him sharply. Tetsuya stopped struggling and took a deep breath.

"Alright Karasuba, I'm cool now." Tetsuya said with a sigh. Karasuba gingerly let go of his arms. As soon as he was free, he stomped over to where Higa was standing.

"How dare you show your face around me? You have 30 seconds to get out of my sight before I snap your neck." Tetsuya snarled as he walked until he was less than 6 inches from Higa.

"I'm not scared of you **or **your Sekireis." Higa said coolly.

"You should be." Kazehana said as she strode over toward Higa. Her gray cape fluttering behind her as she did.

"Kazehana's right. With me and her working with him, he's got half of the original Disciplinary Squad behind him. _The good half." _Karasuba said to him.

"Hmm. So if I were to propose an alliance-" Higa began, before Tetsuya interrupted him.

"I would literally rather receive a prostate exam from Haihane." Tetsuya said frigidly.

"Ah, I see." Higa said as he turned to leave. Before Tetsuya spun him around so they were face-to-face.

"You should know; I'm coming for you. I'm gonna take your company from you. Then I'm gonna take your money and all your possessions. Then, I'm gonna take your Sekireis from you, and when I've finally taken everything you hold dear, I will kill you and bury you in a pine box. I swear on my father's grave. **Now **we're done here." Tetsuya said coldly as he turned and headed back in the direction of the Inn. He no longer felt like saying goodbye, Higa had soundly ruined it for him. Kazehana, Karasuba, and Matsu hurried after him. Miya sighed and moved to follow him, as she passed by Higa she said to him,

"You poor man. I actually pity you. You have awakened a monster you cannot fully understand." she said as she followed her son, leaving Higa their to ponder his next move.

After she was gone, Higa pulled out his phone and called Kakizaki.

"Yes, sir?" Kakizaki asked as he answered the phone.

"Kakizaki, call Mikogami and Sahashi. I feel as if we will soon need additional allies. Homura and Shiina are both capable soldiers, but I feel that they worry more about my fiance than getting the job done."

"I understand sir, I'll get right on it." Kakizaki said as he hung up.

On the way back to the Inn, Miya revealed that it was her who had sent the sword to Tetsuya. As well as the fact that the sword was none other than the Kusanagi No Tsurugi. Something that surprised Tetsuya greatly. Apparently MBI had great connections when it came to legendary blades, considering that when Miya had worked for them she had wielded the Totsuga No Tsurugi. No sooner had they arrived back at the Inn, than Tetsuya received a text from Minaka requesting his presence at the Tower.

"Damn it, Kazehana, let everyone know we're heading back. I gotta talk to Matsu first."

"ME?! Why me?!" Matsu squealed, sounding scared.

"Remember, I need your help to short Higa's stocks? I brought the info with me. As well as a list of what to do afterward. Is everything okay?" he asked, unsure of why Matsu seemed scared of him. Little did he know, that Matsu was scared of what she'd do if they were left alone together. So after that, Tetsuya followed her up to he room and pulled out the SD card with the files she need on it.

"Alrighty, here you go." he said as he handed it to her.

"Alrighty, I'll get right on it." Matsu said as he handed her the memory card. When a risky idea occurred to her as she opened her secret door.

"Hey close your eyes, I've got something for you." Matsu said, blushing slightly.

"Ummm, okay." Tetsuya said apprehensively as he closed his eyes.

Matsu's heart was pounding as she walked slowly over to her friend. What she was thinking of was unprecedented behavior, Sekireis were only supposed to have romantic feelings for their Ashikabis after being winged. But for some reason she felt like she was still reacting to Tetsuya. Before she could chicken out, she stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his lips and ran back inside of her room and closed the door behind her.

Tetsuya opened his eyes and stared at the wall where Matsu's door was hidden. Had Matsu just kissed him? He was distracted from his thoughts by Tsukiumi calling him downstairs. After that they headed to the Tower, where Tetsuya rode the elevator up to the top floor where Minaka was waiting for him on the roof.

"Hello Tetsuya, did you see what was in the box I sent you?" the Game Master asked as he exited the elevator.

"No, I didn't. I've been too busy." Tetsuya said flatly.

"Hmm, you may want to look into it. Your fight with number five got me thinking. If you're going to be fighting on the battlefield with your Sekireis, I need to give you some extra protection, otherwise I won't have anyone to enforce the rules." Minaka continued.

"So what's in it?" Tetsuya asked

"A Kevlar-Nomex body armor suit we developed for the Japanese special forces. Will stop everything from a bullet to a blade. I must ask that you wear it when you engage in combat from now on. I can;t afford to lose you at this stage in the game"

"Sounds fine." Tetsuya said with a shrug.

"Now come, Tetsuya. The third Stage begins now, a new day is dawning Mr. Asama. The age of the Gods is drawing closer than ever." Minaka said, and in a rare moment of dramatic flair Tetsuya decided to give Minaka something to enjoy.

"Yes, a new day is dawning, sir. This day the Guardian Ashikabi falls. In his place rises a new player, who simply calls himself... The Warrior." Tetsuya said with a small smile. In response, Minaka shot him a surprised look.

"Close your mouth man, you'll let the flies in." Tetsuya said flippantly with a sigh..

Author's Note: Alrighty there it is. Tetsuya was a b**** to write this chapter. But I did it. Now what will Matsu do about her situation and what will Miya think of it. How will things work out with Higa and his fiance? Will Minato and Hayato join the Ashikabi of the East? Will Tetsuya get his revenge? What will it cost him if he does get it? All of these answers and more will be revealed in Tetsuya's next story: Rise Of The Warrior. This is 19th Angel, signing off... For Now


	23. Rise of the Warrior update

A New Kind of Ashikabi

I don't own Sekirei or any of its characters. I own only Tetsuya.

Chapter 23- Rise of the Warrior update

Hi guys, 19th Angel here. With August fast approaching, I'd like to think that all of you are waiting with bated breath for the first chapter of Rise of the Warrior. But I'm sure I'm a little biased in that area. Anyways, first off, you should all know that Rise of the Warrior **is** still happening, whether you like it or not. (I'm looking at you my most recent flamer, don't judge my story if you can't take the time to read it all. Sorry bout the rant, but I'm not very gracious to flamers who haven't written anything themselves)

Second, it's gonna be awhile before I publish it, I'd like to see how the manga ends before I do. But if it takes too long, I'll just wing it and re-write it if manga ends better. Anyways, you might wanna check out the new poll on my profile as to who Tetsuya could end up with. I recently had an epiphany about harem endings. The epiphany was that, I don't like them. I feel that each and every one of his Sekireis deserves better than 1/11 of his attention. Anyways the poll may or may not decide who he ends up with. PM with your reasoning goes a long way in this, I already have an idea, but this wouldn't be the first time a reader has had a better idea than I about my story (FreeTraderBeowolf had one regarding Chiho, Tetsuya, and Kazehana and I loved it, you guys saw it in chapter 21). The poll will allow multiple selections, because while I'm not a fan of large harems. Sharing between, say, Uzume and Kazehana or Hikari and Hibiki is not out of the question. Anyways, have fun with the poll (Please note, that the poll will allow 2 choices, as the few pairings I do suggest are not the only ones I'm open to). I'll see you whenever I decide to publish.


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